Eratosthenes
| Region | Occupation | Born | Died |
|---|---|---|---|
| Africa | Scientist | 276 BC | 194 BC |
A North African scholar residing in Alexandria; around 210 BC. He calculated the sun's declination at different times and locations along the north/south-running Nile River. By this method he produced a relatively accurate estimate of the circumference of the earth and devised a measurement akin to latitude.
He was also a student of the Nile River and its sources.
On June 21, Eratosthenes reckoned that in Syene, which was on the Tropic of Cancer, the sun was directly overhead (90 degrees)at noontime; at Alexandria, 500 miles to the north, the noontime sun was at 82 degrees or 8 degrees on the south side from being directly overhead. He determined that 8 degrees was the equivalent of 500 miles (he used a different scale), so that 360 degrees (that in a circle as per Hipparchus) would be 360/8 x 500 = 45 x 500 = 22,500 miles, and thus the circumference of the earth.
Sources
Robert A. McCaughey The Story of Geographical Discovery (2004)Images
Public Domain Source
Related People
HipparchusRelated Locations
Nile RiverCompiler
Peter Richards