Latitude Exhibition_The Van de Veldes and under no clear international

and under no clear international authority

taken us to the brink of destruction

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Outreach and Diversity officer for the Royal Astronomical Society

a region that once took centre stage is again rising to dominate global politics

Latitude Exhibition_The Van de Veldes and under no clear internationalThree hundred years ago, no one knew the true shape of the world. Author: Nicholas Crane It wasn't a sphere but did it bulge at the equator or was it pointed at the poles? Until we found out no map could ever be truly accurate. So a team of scientists was sent to South America to measure one full degree of latitude. But South America was a land of erupting volcanoes, sodden rainforests, earthquakes, deadly diseases, tropical storms and violent unrest.