Andrea Wulf on the Transit of Venus in the 18th Century [JIAmusGKGkv]
Andrea Wulf: "So it's called the Transit of Venus, which is a very rare astronomical event which happens in pairs but more than 100 years apart, where Venus crosses as a small black dot, the burning disk of the sun. And it was in the 18th century, astronomers went across the world to measure the entry and the exit time. And they could use that by kind of complicated triangulation to calculate the distance between Sun and Earth, which then became the yardstick to have the distances of the whole solar system. So it's the first scientific collaboration, and it's an extraordinary moment where in 1761, in the middle of the Seven Years War, you have hundreds of astronomers spreading out, working together, because they all have to share their different timing and then calculate, but only when they do it together." SUNDAY: America's Book Club with Andrea Wulf – 6pm ET on C-SPAN Download the FREE C-SPAN Now App. Discover the C-SPAN Video Library at Explore C-SPAN's Free Educational Resources at C-SPAN: Created by Cable in 1979. Offered as a public service. Support C-SPAN by Donating Today: Subscribe to our YouTube channel: Follow us: Facebook: Twitter: Instagram: Subscribe: C-SPAN Podcasts: Newsletters: Visit the C-SPAN Shop: #cspan