Determination Of Eratosthenes

173 Words1 Page

Eratosthenes was a Greek mathematician, geographer, and astronomer. He was the first person to calculate the circumference of the Earth and the tilt of the Earth.
He knew that at local noon on the summer solstice in Syene, the Sun was directly overhead. He knew this because the shadow of someone looking down a deep well at that time in Syene blocked the reflection of the Sun on the water. He measured the Sun's angle of elevation at noon on the same day in Alexandria. The method of measurement was to make a scale drawing of that triangle which included a right angle between a vertical rod and its shadow. This turned out to be about 7.2°. Then he found out the distance from Syene to Alexandria was 5000 stadia, which was about 800 kilometer.

More about Determination Of Eratosthenes

Open Document