Ecuador (1936) - Ekspedisi Geodetik Akademi Sains Peranchis

Ekspedisi geodetik oleh French Academy of Science ke Ecuador dan Lapland pada 1735 tercatat dalam banyak artikel sejarah geodetik. Setem kenangan dengan foto tiga ahli ekspedisi tersebut - La Condomine, Godin dan Bouger diterbit oleh Ecuador pada 1936. Setem sebagai ulang tahun ke-200 ekspedisi tersebut.

Setem paling atas
La Condomine (tengah), Louis Godin (kiri) dan Bouguer (kanan) 

Info dari sumber - link:

In 1735 and 1736, two French-led expeditions set out to resolve a dispute as to whether the Earth was flattened at the equator, as held by French astronomers, or at the poles, as predicted by Isaac Newton in England. One expedition headed polewards, to Lapland, while the other went equatorwards, to Quito in present-day Ecuador.

The Quito team included Charles Marie de La Condamine (1701–1774), a French mathematician and explorer; Pierre Bouguer (1698–1758), a French mathematician and surveyor and a pioneer of astronomical photometry; and Louis Godin (1704–1760), a French astronomer. With them were two Spanish scientists, Antonio de Ulloa and Jorge Juan. Each expedition measured the length of a degree of latitude at their respective locations, and their results confirmed Newton’s prediction that the Earth is flattened at the poles.

Ecuador issued a set of stamps to commemorate the bicentenary of the arrival of the French expedition. On the three illustrated here, La Condamine is flanked by Louis Godin (left) and Pierre Bouguer. On two others (5c green and 20c violet) Godin and Bouguer are replaced by the Spaniards Ulloa and Juan. The 10c, 20c and 50c values were also issued overprinted with the word “Aereo” (SG 534, 535, 536). An additional member of the set (70c grey, SG 537), inscribed “Correo Aereo”, shows La Condamine and a local scientist, Pedro Vicente Maldonado, who accompanied La Condamine on his return journey along the Amazon.

As an aside, Ulloa and Juan discovered the valuable element platinum while in Ecuador. On his way back to Spain, Ulloa was captured by the English and taken to London where, on account of his scientific eminence, he was made a Fellow of the Royal Society.

- - - - -

Netherland - Astronomer Huygens (1928)

Seorang lagi ahli astronomer yang mendapat pengiktirafan keluaran setem ialah Huygens. Foto beliau diabadi dalam satu setem Holland pada 1928.

Huygens (1629-1695)

Info dari sumber - link:

Christiaan Huygens (1629–95), a Dutch physicist and astronomer, was noted for his observations of the planets. He discovered Titan, Saturn’s largest moon; recognized that Saturn was surrounded by a flat ring system; and charted surface markings on Mars, notably the wedge-shaped Syrtis Major. Fittingly, the European Space Agency’s probe which landed on Titan in 2005 January was named Huygens. The wording “Voor Het Kind” on the stamp, literally meaning “For the Child”, indicates that this is a Child Welfare issue.

- - - - -