The Adventures of Three Englishmen and Three Russians in South Africa

Adventures of three Englishmen and three Russians in South Africa ( also adventure of three Russians and three Englishmen in South Africa) is a novel by the French writer Jules Verne. The novel was first published in 1872 by the publisher Pierre -Jules Hetzel under the French title Aventures de trois Russes et de trois Anglais dans l' Afrique australe. The first German -language edition was published in 1875 under the title Adventures of three Englishmen and three Russians in South Africa. The English title of the novel is The Adventures of Three Englishmen and Three Russians in South Africa. In English, he first appeared under the title Meridiana: The Adventures of Three Englishmen and Three Russians in South Africa in November 1872 In 1874, an unauthorized version of Meridiana entitled Adventures in the Land of Behemoth has been published..

Action

An Anglo- Russian Commission on in 1854 in order to measure a meridian circle in the Cape Colony of South Africa, in eighteen months of work. Equal parts the group consists of the three English astronomer: Colonel Everest, William Emery and Sir John Murray, as well as the three Russian astronomers: Matthias Strux, Nicholas Palander and Michael anger and neutral French scientists. Accompanied they are of a brave man named Busch Mokum. Your goal is to conduct surveys that serve the exact determination of the meter. In the course of the novel it happens that the two leaders of the group, Everest and Strux, from national differences and from scholars envy constantly clashed. When the expedition participants learn that it is in 1854 came to the outbreak of the Crimean War, the group split up from these national differences in order to separately pursue their further survey work. In the face of danger posed by a native tribe, the Makololos, goes out, make it the Russian and British scientists, however, to look beyond their national differences and unite again in order to finish their research together can.

Background

The introduction of the metric system did not go smoothly in the preparation phase. While the British have a technical advantage, the Russians now want to catch up. Verne describes the necessary geographic and geodetic information in the novel. The scientific basis is the accurate measurement of the earth's surface and their graduation. The necessary procedures are extensively described in the story.