Jean Picard

This article is about the 17th-century French astronomer. For the bookbinder, see Jean Picard (bookbinder). For the chemist, professor and balloonist, see Jean Piccard. For the fictional character, see Jean-Luc Picard.
Jean Picard
Picard by Henri Testelin, c. 1680
Born(1620-07-21)21 July 1620
La Flèche, Kingdom of France
Died12 July 1682(1682-07-12) (aged 61)
Paris, Kingdom of France
OccupationsAstronomer, priest

Jean Picard (French pronunciation: [ʒɑ̃ pikaʁ]; 21 July 1620 – 12 July 1682) was a French priest, astronomer and pioneer in geodesy, born in La Flèche, where he studied at the Collège royal Henri le Grand. He is best known for accurately measuring the size of the Earth, through a survey of one degree of latitude along the Paris Meridian.

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