FRANCIS VERNON: PARTHENON

Many of the Royal Society’s early Fellows were travellers and diplomats who encouraged the international exchange of information. Francis Vernon, whose adventurous life included capture by pirates and eventual murder in Esfahan was one of them. During the 1670s, Vernon wrote to the Royal Society about his near-East travels and used his mathematical and surveying skills to produce the first modern and accurate measurements of the Parthenon in Athens. This link allows you to see his work.