Tells the story of how science, revolutionary politics, and the dream of a new economy converged to produce both the metric system and the first struggle over globalization. Amidst the scientific fervor of the French Revolution, two French scientists, Delambre and Mechain, were sent out on an expedition to measure the shape of the world and thereby establish the metre -- which was to be one ten-millionth the distance from pole to equator. It was to be 7 years before their return to a hero's welcome in Paris. But Mechain was obsessed over a minute error in his calculations that he'd discovered and concealed, and which eventually drove him to his grave. His death forced Delambre to choose between loyalty to his friend and his science. B&W illustrations.