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Jean Picard
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<p>Jean Picard (21 July 1620 – 12 July 1682) was a French <a href="/facts/Astronomer/ronF8j4a">astronomer</a> and priest born in <a href="/facts/La_Fl%25C3%25A8che/t8LdLcmm">La Flèche</a>, where he studied at the <a href="/facts/Jesuit/n0PeYBB8">Jesuit</a> <a href="/facts/Coll%25C3%25A8ge_Royal_Henry-Le-Grand/uJdu0WMo">Collège Royal Henry-Le-Grand</a>. </p><p>He is principally notable for his accurate measure of the <a href="/facts/Figure_of_the_Earth/z1LvpVgd">size of the Earth</a>, based on a careful survey of one degree of latitude along the Paris Meridian. </p>