The French contribution to the history of measuring the Earth's magnetic field is a long one, which began at least as early as the 16th century, with the first declination measurement performed by Künstler Bellarmatus in 1541. In 1667, the Académie des Sciences decided to build an observatory in Paris and take declination measurements. Before beginning construction, an initial measurement was made on June 21, 1667 using a 5‐in. needle. Subsequent measurements were performed from 1667 onward, sometimes continued as a family tradition (La Hire, Cassini, Maraldi). There are fewer measurements of inclination than declination at the Paris Observatory, owing mainly to its late discovery; but also, it was of less interest to navigators, and presented a greater problem for accurate measurements. More details about the observations of declination and inclination in the Paris region are given in Alexandrescu et al. (1996).
The study of geomagnetism in France has benefited from the centralized...
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Bibliography
Alexandrescu, M., Courtillot, V., and Le Mouël, J.‐L., 1996. Geomagnetic field direction in Paris since the mid‐XVIth century. Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors, 98: 321–360.
Bitterly, J., Mandea Alexandrescu, M., Schott, J.‐J., and Vassal, J., 1999. Contribution de la France à l'observation cu champ magnétique terrestre. In B Comité National Français de Géodésie et Géophysique, Rapport Quadriennal 1995–1998. Toulouse, pp. 145–158.
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Mandea, M. (2007). Observatory Program In France. In: Gubbins, D., Herrero-Bervera, E. (eds) Encyclopedia of Geomagnetism and Paleomagnetism. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-4423-6_230
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