MetreThe metre (or meter in American spelling; symbol: m) is the base unit of length in the International System of Units (SI). The metre was originally defined in 1791 as one ten-millionth of the distance from the equator to the North Pole along a great circle, so the Earth's circumference is approximately 40000 km. In 1799, the metre was redefined in terms of a prototype metre bar. The actual bar used was changed in 1889. In 1960, the metre was redefined in terms of a certain number of wavelengths of a certain emission line of krypton-86.
School for Advanced Studies in the Social SciencesThe School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (École des hautes études en sciences sociales; EHESS) is a graduate grande école and grand établissement in Paris focused on academic research in the social sciences. It is regarded as one of the most prestigious institutions of higher learning in France. The school awards Master and PhD degrees alone and conjointly with the grandes écoles École Normale Supérieure, École Polytechnique, and École pratique des hautes études.
History of the metreThe history of the metre starts with the Scientific Revolution that is considered to have begun with Nicolaus Copernicus's publication of De revolutionibus orbium coelestium in 1543. Increasingly accurate measurements were required, and scientists looked for measures that were universal and could be based on natural phenomena rather than royal decree or physical prototypes. Rather than the various complex systems of subdivision then in use, they also preferred a decimal system to ease their calculations.
Grande écoleA grande école (ɡʁɑ̃d ekɔl; great school) is a specialized top level educational institution in France. Grandes écoles are part of an alternative educational system that operates alongside the mainstream French public university system and are dedicated to teaching, research and professional training in single academic fields such as engineering, architecture, business administration, academic research, or public policy and administration.
Jean-Charles de BordaJean-Charles, chevalier de Borda (4 May 1733 – 19 February 1799) was a French mathematician, physicist, and Navy officer. Borda was born in the city of Dax to Jean‐Antoine de Borda and Jeanne‐Marie Thérèse de Lacroix. In 1756, Borda wrote Mémoire sur le mouvement des projectiles, a product of his work as a military engineer. For that, he was elected to the French Academy of Sciences in 1764. Borda was a mariner and a scientist, spending time in the Caribbean testing out advances in chronometers.
Secondary education in FranceIn France, secondary education is in two stages: Collèges (kɔlɛʒ) cater for the first four years of secondary education from the ages of 11 to 15. Lycées (lise) provide a three-year course of further secondary education for children between the ages of 15 and 18. Pupils are prepared for the baccalauréat (bakaloʁea; baccalaureate, colloquially known as bac, previously bachot), which can lead to higher education studies or directly to professional life.
