Scientific ACCURACIES in the Bible

[Justtristo]

The Greeks, of course.

Eratosthenes

Eratosthenes (276–194 BC) estimated Earth's circumference around 240 BC. He had heard that in Syene the Sun was directly overhead at the summer solstice whereas in Alexandria it still cast a shadow. Using the differing angles the shadows made as the basis of his trigonometric calculations he estimated a circumference of around 250,000 stades. The length of a 'stade' is not precisely known, but Eratosthenes' figure only has an error of around five to fifteen percent.[17][18][19] Eratosthenes used rough estimates and round numbers, but depending on the length of the stadion, his result is within a margin of between 2% and 20% of the actual meridional circumference, 40,008 kilometres (24,860 mi). Note that Eratosthenes could only measure the circumference of the Earth by assuming that the distance to the Sun is so great that the rays of sunlight are essentially parallel.

The more you read about Greco-Roman science the more amazed about how much was lost during the Dark Ages.

However the level of scientific advancement is not surprising, considering that Greco-Roman philosophy (particularly in ethics and other areas), reached a level that the Christian west would not get to until the 17th and 18th centuries!. For example; the Stoics were advocating the brotherhood or man and condemning the institution of slavery. That did not emerge in the Christian West until the 18th century!.