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How the grid came to shape the US landscape

Science and reason underpinned early surveys, but sociopolitical ideals left their mark on the nation too, a historical account concludes.
  1. K. John Holmes

    1. K. John Holmes is the senior board director and scholar at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine in Washington DC.

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Aerial shot with houses, river and land parcels of Washington DC

Regular blocks such as these in Washington DC were thought by early leaders to imbue ideas of equality, freedom and prosperity. Credit: Getty

Liberty’s Grid: A Founding Father, a Mathematical Dreamland, and the Shaping of America Amir Alexander Univ. Chicago Press (2024)

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Nature 630, 810-812 (2024)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-02083-4

Competing Interests

The author declares no competing interests.

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