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dc.contributor.authorCameron, Chantal
dc.date.accessioned2023-03-02T20:37:15Z
dc.date.available2023-03-02T20:37:15Z
dc.date.issued2023-03-02
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10464/17510
dc.descriptionJean Antonin Léon Bassot (1841-1917) was a French General, astronomer and geodesist who spent most of his career in the French Army. He served in the War with Germany in 1870, was taken captive, and remained in Hamburg as a prisoner until the end of the war. Bassot then worked as a geodesist with the French Army before moving into more senior positions including assistant to General Francois Perrier (Head of the Geographical Service of the Army), then Head of the Geodesy Section in 1882, and finally director of the Geographical Service in 1898. Bassot was involved in many important projects during his career. From 1870 to 1894 he remeasured the Paris Meridian with Perrier in France and Algeria. In 1882 he travelled to St. Augustine, Florida, as part of a mission by the Academy of Sciences to observe the transit of Venus. The expedition was led by Francois Perrier. Scientists were sent to different parts of the world to view this important event, which is a rare occurrence that happens approximately twice in an 8-year interval every 120 years. It most recently occurred in 2004 and 2012. Observations from the transit were used to determine the solar parallax and calculate the distance from the Earth to the Sun. For this work, Bassot was awarded the Lalande Prize by the Academy of Sciences in 1883. Bassot was also involved in politics, representing Mirebeau-sur-Beze to the General Council of the Côte d’Or from 1884 to 1892. In 1904 he was appointed Director of the Nice Observatory and remained in this position until his death in 1917. He was also President of the International Geodetic Association from 1903 to 1917 and presided over their conferences in 1906, 1909, and 1912.en_US
dc.description.abstractThe fonds contains material related to the work of French geodesist and astronomer J.A. Léon Bassot. Most of the material is correspondence written in French to his wife while travelling for his professional projects from 1881 to 1884, including the Academy of Science expedition to St. Augustine, Florida to observe the transit of Venus in 1882. He travelled through New York, Niagara Falls and Montreal, and wrote a letter from the Clifton House describing his experience of observing the Falls. There is also a menu from the Clifton House. Several letters describing the transit of Venus are also included. Other correspondence covers his geodesic activities in Paris and Nice in 1881 and 1882, as well as his campaign for regional political office in 1884.en_US
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.relation.ispartofseries;RG 829
dc.rightsCC0 1.0 Universal*
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/*
dc.subjectJ.A. Leon Bassoten_US
dc.subjectAstronomyen_US
dc.subjectNiagara Falls (N.Y. and Ont.)--Description and Travelen_US
dc.titleJ.A. Léon Bassot fonds, 1864-1910, n.d.en_US
dc.typeOtheren_US
refterms.dateFOA2023-03-02T20:37:16Z


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