Louisiane Ferlier reports on a new exhibition in the Bibliothèque Mazarine in Paris, a collaboration between the Académie des sciences and the Royal Society.
In 2024 the Académie des sciences and the Royal Society collaborated on a public exhibition for the first time: ‘Figuring the Earth’, hosted at the Society’s home in Carlton House Terrace.
Earlier this week, I was delighted to join the teams of the Académie des sciences and the Bibliothèque Mazarine et de l’Institut de France to open the exhibition The figure of the Earth. A French-English scientific debate (XVII–XXI century) in the Bibliothèque Mazarine, France’s oldest public library.
The cupola of the Institut de France at night (Louisiane Ferlier)
The collections on display in Paris, and their core interpretation, are similar to what the London public were able to view at the Royal Society, taking a long view of the scientific endeavour to measure and model the shape of the Earth. However, the exhibition was reinvented to fit its new venue, and it felt very much like turning a new leaf in the stunning Bibliothèque Mazarine when we installed it.
An overview of the exhibition (Ainsley Vinall)
Firstly, we welcomed a new collaborator, the Bibliothèque Mazarine et de l’Institut de France, who are hosting us in their historical venue and who contributed directly to the display. From the collections of the Institut de France, visitors can view the manuscript entry dedicated to the Figure of the Earth from Diderot’s celebrated Encyclopédie, alongside the first edition open at the article by Jean le Rond D’Alembert FRS:
Article ‘Figure de la Terre’ in the Encylopédie (Louisiane Ferlier)
Items from the Académie and the Royal Society show the progress made by philosophers of both nations in measuring and theorising the shape of the Earth. The inclusion of the Encyclopédie illustrates how this complex topic was then circulated to a wider audience in France.
New material from the Académie and from our own collections has been added for the Paris instalment of the exhibition. From the Royal Society, manuscripts relating to Antonio de Ulloa FRS, one of the two Spanish officers who accompanied the French expedition to Ecuador, show how Martin Folkes (then President of the Society) interceded in Ulloa’s defence when he was captured by the British Navy in the midst of the War of Jenkins’ Ear. The manuscripts are a poignant testimony to cross-border scientific diplomacy.
Another new addition to the exhibition is our copy of Mary Somerville’s translation into English of Pierre Simon Laplace’s Mechanism of the heavens, alongside a reproduction of her engraved portrait. Somerville’s masterpiece is displayed only a few steps from the Académie’s copy of Émilie du Châtelet’s translation of Newton’s Principia into French. Somerville’s book spurred William Whewell FRS to coin the term ‘scientist’ to describe the breadth and depth of her mastery of all sciences. Together, the two volumes symbolise the centrality of the contribution of women to the history of science, even for topics seemingly dominated by institutions such as the Royal Society and the Académie des sciences from which they were excluded.
Du Châtelet and Somerville were no mere popularisers of science. They were both deep thinkers who tackled some of the most complex issues of their time by applying their rigorous mathematical logic and inquisitive minds. This exhibition is a unique chance to celebrate their contributions in one of the most beautiful libraries of Europe.
Display of Mary Somerville’s Mechanism of the heavens (Ainsley Vinall)
Finally, this Paris exhibition marks the first time on record that our newly restored Bardin globe has left its home at the Royal Society. Its installation was a most delicate operation, orchestrated by the expert conservators of the Bibliothèque Mazarine. After placing the fragile object on its meter-high plinth, a six-strong team from the Bibliothèque and the Académie des Beaux-Arts carefully lowered the transparent hood over the early nineteenth-century globe, in the eerie silence of the reading room. I hope I can be excused for not recording the operation in pictures, as we all were too busy checking from every angle that nothing could go wrong. The resulting effect is striking, with our terrestrial globe perched high over the exhibit, near to the fabulous Coronelli celestial globe on permanent display in the Bibliothèque Mazarine:
Terrestrial and celestial globes (Ainsley Vinall)
The opening on Tuesday 31 March was preceded by a dialogue between the Secrétaire Perpétuel of the Académie, Étienne Ghys, and Sir Mark Walport FRS, Foreign Secretary of the Royal Society. They brought various themes of the exhibition to the present day, discussing trust in science and the importance of international collaboration in an era of intense international disruption. You can listen to a series of podcasts and read an article for The Conversation by the Secrétaire Perpétuel, en français dans le texte.
This exhibition has been a fantastic opportunity to support the work of the Royal Society’s International team, and to demonstrate how historical artefacts can bring people together in dialogue. It has also been a wonderful collaboration with our French colleagues of the Académie des sciences and the Bibliothèque, whom I cannot thank enough for their generosity in hosting us and our items, which will be on show to the Paris audience until 20 June.
