Rating: 
Summary: Arc you kidding me?...
Review: ...a whole book about some dusty old surveyors, trigonometric measurements, arcs of meridian and strange measuring devices called theodolites. Yes, and brilliantly done too and immensely readable. It's hard to believe that a book about such arcane subjects as those mentioned above could be made interesting - but Keay has done it. There is no need no know trigonometry, cartography or any '-phy' for that matter. The book is short and so spends very little time on the technicalities of the subject, instead focusing more on where the interesting parts are always to be found - in the people and the places of these historical adventures. But what got the people - firstly Colonel William Lambton and then Sir George Everest (1790-1866), following Lambton's death in 1823, to the place - India, in the first place. An adventure in mapping. At the start of the 19th century cartography was still very basic. There were no standards of measurement or common method for portraying relief features such as mountains. Many parts of the world had not been surveyed and a complete grid of latitude and longitude lines covering the Earth was still decades away. The arc of the story was simply a part (a large part) of one such a line of longitude. Lambton was like many surveyor's of the day in that it was typically the army that undertook these mapping projects, but what was not typical, was the man himself and the size of the project. Mapping India was a mammoth project and underlying it was Lambton's ultimate goal of obtaining an accurate measurement of the Earth. Thousands would be involved, it would take decades and outlast Lambton himself. The task would be finished in 1843 by Sir George Everest who would, along the way, have his name recorded for posterity on a certain Himalayan Mountain. Although Lambton can not match Sir George Everest with a mountain as his public recognition, he might very well be satisfied with knowing that credit for starting The Great Trigonometric Survey, is all his and that even long after his death, his pioneering work was responsible for India being considered the best surveyed country in the world. Being the sort of man Keay depicts Lambton as, that would probably be praise enough for him.
Rating:
Summary: Inspiring tale (told from European eyes)
Review: A thin but inspiring history: how William Lambton, George Everest (pronounced EVE-rest), and other hardy and dedicated souls mapped a great deal of India. The Arc was a series of triangles plotted through vertical and horizontal triangulation, sometimes confirmed by fixing one's place by observation of the stars. This mapping required braving malaria- and dysentery-infested forests and plains; crunching the numbers in impossibly complex equations; lugging a vast instrument called The Great Theodolite over rugged terrain; contructing towers and scaffolding for flagmen and flares, and huge amounts of patience. The story is awe-inspiring, if only for the bravery of these pioneers, who often faced greater casualty rates than soldiers in the name of science; but I was most impressed by the precision of the survey under the given conditions. Every variable was predicted and dealt with, even to attaching thermometers to the measuring-chains so as to calculate the metal's expansion and compensate in the resulting calculation. In all this plotting, the measuring of mountains was incidental, but Keay also reveals how the bad-tempered Everest somehow got his name attached to the world's highest peak. This book is a fine work of scholarship and very pleasant to read. However, it is a pity that there is so little on the reactions of Indians to the survey: I'd like to know how Everest's own native contingent felt, what local villagers thought on seeing the great procession, what the survey's own Indian mathmatical genius felt about the project. Perhaps there is no record of their feelings, but that's a shame. Otherwise, this is a stirring tale of human acheivement.
Rating:
Summary: Inspiring tale (told from European eyes)
Review: A thin but inspiring history: how William Lambton, George Everest (pronounced EVE-rest), and other hardy and dedicated souls mapped a great deal of India. The Arc was a series of triangles plotted through vertical and horizontal triangulation, sometimes confirmed by fixing one's place by observation of the stars. This mapping required braving malaria- and dysentery-infested forests and plains; crunching the numbers in impossibly complex equations; lugging a vast instrument called The Great Theodolite over rugged terrain; contructing towers and scaffolding for flagmen and flares, and huge amounts of patience. The story is awe-inspiring, if only for the bravery of these pioneers, who often faced greater casualty rates than soldiers in the name of science; but I was most impressed by the precision of the survey under the given conditions. Every variable was predicted and dealt with, even to attaching thermometers to the measuring-chains so as to calculate the metal's expansion and compensate in the resulting calculation. In all this plotting, the measuring of mountains was incidental, but Keay also reveals how the bad-tempered Everest somehow got his name attached to the world's highest peak. This book is a fine work of scholarship and very pleasant to read. However, it is a pity that there is so little on the reactions of Indians to the survey: I'd like to know how Everest's own native contingent felt, what local villagers thought on seeing the great procession, what the survey's own Indian mathmatical genius felt about the project. Perhaps there is no record of their feelings, but that's a shame. Otherwise, this is a stirring tale of human acheivement.
Rating: 
Summary: John Keay Hits a Gold Mine of History
Review: An exhilarating history of two forgotten men, first William Lambton and then his successor Sir George Everest, who by sheer will power overcame enormous contrary forces to lay out the first geodetic survey of India. With more suspense than a Harrison Ford movie, John Keay tells us how the large teams that each Surveyor General commanded, from technicians down to coolies, battled numerous huge obstacles to triangulate the land mass of India. What's more amazing is that these triangles, dozens of miles on a leg, were accurate to within inches. It's hard to imagine the dedication of Lambton in 1820, working at night by kerosene lamp, evaluating complex trigonometrical formulas long before calculators were available. One numerical error in the fourth decimal place would cost months of backtracking, but few were made. Lambton and Everest loved their project.
One feels the slow pace of life in 19th century India. Things could stop for years, and then pick up again as if no time had passed. This enterprise was comparable in its time to the Apollo project of the 1960's in effort and scope, but it ran for roughly 60 years!
The story culminates with the first precise measurements of the Himalaya Mountains in Nepal. It is fitting that the peak that eventually emerges as the highest of all was given Everest's name (Lambton had died long before). And once again to our amazement, the altitude was correct!
Not many historians are comfortable with science and technology. So for every book about the relentless advance of those subjects, there are probably 50 rehashing the political intrigues of Europe. But Keay writes in a fascinating way about men who spent their lives immersed in these fields, and about Lambton's and Everest's faith that the future would belong to science, engineering, and technology as they moved forward on the bedrock of mathematics.
Rating: 
Summary: Kistna or Krishna?
Review: Ask a local to the area and he'll tell you it's Kistna. The other reviewer failed to read the Introduction from the author where this and other spellings in the book differ and why they do. As for the book, it could have had more detail on some other interesting issues, such as living arrangements, diet, etc of the workers. Another typical history book written from the viewpoint of the victors. How about the thousands that gave their lives? Why did I give it three stars (instead of two)? Well, it is an interesting topic that you will not find elsewhere. If you liked "Longitude" then you'll love The Great Arc. [...]I guess it didn't make the best sellers list.
Rating:
Summary: Endeavour and India
Review: I enjoyed this book but perhaps not quite as much as John Keay's 'The Discovery of India'. Both books capture elements of the exoticness of India and even more so, the eccentric Englishmen who made their lives and endeavours in the country. As I have a mathematical background I would have liked some hard science details in the book - how does triangulation work with its dimensions of measurement (horizontal and vertical), how can independent checks be made by using astronomical sources, and so on. But I recognise that for many readers the omission of this material may be a significant positive!
Rating:
Summary: A tall tale
Review: I've given this five stars, as I did not have a clue about the issues involved and the people concerned that this book concerns, before I picked it up. The best thing about it is it brings back two people and their associates, who had attained oblivion, to a sort of immortality. Lucidly written and easy to get through, the book comes from a specialist on India with some fine books to his credit including a major history of the sub-continent. I think this book makes a fine gift, and I've already started giving away copies. Rarely are the hidden chapters of history which would ordinarily be considered too dry to even bother with returned to consciousness. The adventure, effort and facts about Indian Geography including the Himalaya and the lives of expatriate Englishpeople, stiching up an Empire - it makes absorbing reading.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting Science Biography
Review: Similar scientific biographies such as this book have become quite common. Longitude and Riddle of the Compass are two that come to mind. I personally enjoy such books as they usually take something that most modern people take for granted and explain the work and effort that went into various types of discoveries. The Great Arc is an interesting story of a very difficult subject. A survey of the Indian sub-continent was not only difficult due to the distances and the lack of computers to crunch the unbelievable amount of data, but also the weather and the various illnesses that seem to decimate these kinds of endeavors. William Lambton, who most people have probably never heard of, takes it upon himself as an officer in the British Army, to begin a survey of the Indian sub-continent done on an amazingly precise and accurate scale. The years that he spends battling the elements and the lack of help are well told. His successor, George Everest is an extremely difficult man to work for but he does yields some vast improvements to the surveying process. Very little time is spent on Mount Everest, other than to explain the origin of the name and some of the debate about calculating the height of the mountain range. Overall, however, this book was an excellent story on the quest to survey with almost fanatical precision a large piece of the earth and the men, many of whom died in the process, whod dedicated their lives and careers to thsi endeavor.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting Science Biography
Review: Similar scientific biographies such as this book have become quite common. Longitude and Riddle of the Compass are two that come to mind. I personally enjoy such books as they usually take something that most modern people take for granted and explain the work and effort that went into various types of discoveries. The Great Arc is an interesting story of a very difficult subject. A survey of the Indian sub-continent was not only difficult due to the distances and the lack of computers to crunch the unbelievable amount of data, but also the weather and the various illnesses that seem to decimate these kinds of endeavors. William Lambton, who most people have probably never heard of, takes it upon himself as an officer in the British Army, to begin a survey of the Indian sub-continent done on an amazingly precise and accurate scale. The years that he spends battling the elements and the lack of help are well told. His successor, George Everest is an extremely difficult man to work for but he does yields some vast improvements to the surveying process. Very little time is spent on Mount Everest, other than to explain the origin of the name and some of the debate about calculating the height of the mountain range. Overall, however, this book was an excellent story on the quest to survey with almost fanatical precision a large piece of the earth and the men, many of whom died in the process, whod dedicated their lives and careers to thsi endeavor.
Rating:
Summary: A Fine Book
Review: Terrific and engaging read, really. I, however, must correct the reviewer from Cochin, India. Surely the 'Note on Spelling' that precedes the narrative should have clarified matters. In the note the author indicates that he has adopted nineteenth-century spelling to be consistent with the original documents.
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