558 - The Transit of Venus part 1

How far away is the sun? English astronomer Edmond Halley suggested that tracking the transit of Venus across the sun would be the key to finding the answer. This set in motion a huge international collaborative scientific endeavour and one of the most comically cursed voyages, by the magnificently named Frenchman, Guillaume Joseph Hyacinthe Jean-Baptiste Le Gentil de la Galaisière!

This is a comedy/history podcast, the report begins at approximately 05:25 (though as always, we go off on tangents throughout the report).

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Do Go On acknowledges the traditional owners of the land we record on, the Wurundjeri people, in the Kulin nation. We pay our respects to elders, past and present. 

REFERENCES AND FURTHER READING:

http://www.astronomy.ohio-state.edu/~pogge/Ast161/Unit4/venussun.html

Chasing Venus: The Race to Measure the Heavens by Andrea Wulf

https://theconversation.com/transit-of-venus-a-tale-of-two-expeditions-7246

https://www.iflscience.com/in-1761-and-1769-intrepid-voyagers-had-a-once-in-a-century-chance-to-measure-the-solar-system-83712

A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson

https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/why-should-you-care-about-transit-venus

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/observing-news/transits-of-venus-in-history-1761/   

https://www.nytimes.com/2000/02/13/books/the-war-to-begin-all-wars.html#:~:text=Winston%20S.,Africa%2C%20India%20and%20the%20Philippines.

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