These smart ancient greeks!
June 9, 2011 at 12:09 pm
(This post was last modified: June 9, 2011 at 12:11 pm by Zenith.)
A thing that I found a few days ago about Eratosthenes of Cyrene (276 BC – c. 195 BC - he lived in the Ptolemaic Empire)
I didn't find any subforum fit for this, so I hope this one is ok.
(I thought that someone may find it interesting, if he did not know already)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eratosthenes Wrote:He was the first person to calculate the circumference of the earth by using a measuring system using stades, or the length of stadiums during that time period (with remarkable accuracy). He was the first person known to have proven that the Earth was round, though prior astronomers, such as Aristarchus of Samos knew, or at least assumed, that the Earth was spherical.[citation needed] He was the first to calculate the tilt of the Earth's axis (also with remarkable accuracy). He may also have accurately calculated the distance from the earth to the sun and invented the leap day.[4] He also created a map of the world based on the available geographical knowledge of the era. In addition, Eratosthenes was the founder of scientific chronology; he endeavored to fix the dates of the chief literary and political events from the conquest of Troy.
According to an entry[5] in the Suda (a 10th century reference), his contemporaries nicknamed him beta, from the second letter of the Greek alphabet, because he supposedly proved himself to be the second best in the world in almost every field.
I didn't find any subforum fit for this, so I hope this one is ok.
(I thought that someone may find it interesting, if he did not know already)
