The Measure of Al Things

by Ken Alder

Two men - Delambre and Colombes spend years making measurements from northern France down to Barcelona after the French Revolution to determine the length of the meter - which is 1/1,000,000 the length of the circumference of the Earth. They faced so many problems including several different governments and revolutions.

The book reads like a novel. The stories are fascinating and there is even an interesting twist to the ending. One of my favorite books.