Geodesy (the measurement of the size and shape of the earth), fascinating since the time of Erathosenes, became a basic science for the space program. Irene Fischer was a leader in the construction of the World Geodetic System (has an Earth reference ellipsoid named in her honor) when it was still being done by surveyors, piecing together terrestrial, gravitational and astronomical data. By the 1970s, satellite geodesy and marine geodesy were just coming into their own. Using her career, Fischer revels in explaining how the science unfolded, and how misunderstandings occur across scientific...