FLATTENED EARTH.

The article focuses on the 18th-century scientific debate over the Earth's shape, specifically whether it was flatter at the poles or the Equator. In the 1730s, two French expeditions were dispatched—one to Ecuador and another to the Arctic Circle—to measure a degree of latitude and resolve this question, which was tied to competing scientific theories from René Descartes and Isaac Newton. The Arctic mission, led by Pierre Maupertuis, returned first and supported Newton's view that the Earth bulges at the Equator, while the South American expedition faced severe logistical and social challenges. The results influenced a shift in French scientific opinion toward Newtonian physics, aided by figures like Voltaire and Émilie du Châtelet who helped popularize Newton's ideas.