Ricardo V. Luna holds a conversation with Larrie D. Ferreiro, whose latest book describes an 18th-century scientific expedition to the equator to determine the true shape of the Earth. Ferreiro's new book tells the story of a 10-year scientific expedition to the equator to resolve the mystery surrounding the shape of the Earth. It was known that the Earth was not a perfect sphere, but scientists did not know if it was elongated or flattened at the poles. As a Washington Post book review asked, did the planet look like an egg standing upright in its carton or like an exercise ball when someone sat on it? Speaker Biography: Ricardo V. Luna is a distinguished visiting scholar at the John W. Kluge Center and former ambassador of Peru to the United States. Speaker Biography: Larrie D. Ferreiro is an award-winning science writer whose latest book is "Measure of the Earth: The Enlightenment Expedition That Reshaped Our World." For transcript, captions, and more information visit www.loc.gov/today/cyberlc/feature_wdesc.php?rec=5347.

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