Pendulums vibrate more slowly the nearer they are to the equator.

It follows, therefore, that they are there farther from the centre of the earth.
From the most reliable measures that have been made, the dimensions of the earth may be thus stated: Greater or equatorial diameter..............7,925 miles.
Less or polar diameter......................7,899 " Difference or polar compression.............

26 " Such was the result of the discussion respecting the figure and size of the earth.

While it was yet undetermined, another controversy arose, fraught with even more serious consequences.

This was the conflict respecting the earth's position with regard to the sun and the planetary bodies.
Copernicus, a Prussian, about the year 1507, had completed a book "On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Bodies." He had journeyed to Italy in his youth, had devoted his attention to astronomy, and had taught mathematics at Rome.