Editing Schiehallion (section)

==History==
[[File:Schiehallion - geograph.org.uk - 1156736.jpg|thumb|250px|Schiehallion covered in snow]]
The slopes of Schiehallion have been inhabited and cultivated since the first millennium BC until approximately two hundred years ago.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.archive-articles.co.uk/wildlife/TheStoryofSchiehallion.htm| archive-url=https://archive.today/20120904150550/http://www.archive-articles.co.uk/wildlife/TheStoryofSchiehallion.htm| url-status=dead| archive-date=4 September 2012| title=The Story of Schiehallion| author=Clare Thomas| publisher=archive-articles.co.uk| access-date=11 April 2009}}</ref> Schiehallion has been used for grazing sheep and [[Deer stalking|stalking red deer]].

Since 1999 the eastern side of the mountain has been owned by the [[John Muir Trust]].<ref name="jmt"/>

===The Schiehallion experiment===
{{Main|Schiehallion experiment}}
Schiehallion's isolated position and regular shape led it to be selected by the English astronomer [[Charles Mason]] (of [[Mason–Dixon line]] fame) for a ground-breaking experiment to estimate the [[Earth mass|mass of the Earth]] in 1774.<ref>{{cite book|last=Danson|first=Edwin|title=Weighing the World|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2006|page=116|isbn=978-0-19-518169-2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UNH_Y7ERFeoC&pg=PA115}}</ref> The deflection of a pendulum by the mass of the mountain provided an estimate of the mean density of the Earth, from which its mass and a value for Newton's [[gravitational constant]] ''G'' could be deduced. Mason turned down a commission to carry out the work, and it was instead coordinated by the [[Astronomer Royal]], [[Nevil Maskelyne]]. He was assisted in the task by mathematician [[Charles Hutton]], who devised a graphical system to represent large volumes of surveyed heights, later known as [[contour line]]s.<ref>{{cite book| last=Danson| first=Edwin| title=Weighing the World| publisher=Oxford University Press| year=2006| page=153| isbn=978-0-19-518169-2| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UNH_Y7ERFeoC&pg=PA153}}</ref>