Wordsmith Talk |
About Us | What's New | Search | Site Map | Contact Us | |||
Register Log In Wordsmith.org Forums General Topics Weekly Themes occiput
Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
OP Not Archimedes.It was Eratosthenes.
Eratosthenes (276?-196? BC), Greek mathematician, astronomer, geographer, and poet, who measured the circumference of the earth with extraordinary accuracy by determining astronomically the difference in latitude between the cities of Syene (now Aswan) and Alexandria, Egypt. He was born in Cyrene (now Sha‰‰at, Libya). Among his teachers was the Greek poet Callimachus. About 240 BC, Eratosthenes became the head of the library at Alexandria, Egypt. His calculation of the earth's circumference was only about 15 percent too large. Eratosthenes also measured the obliquity of the ecliptic with an error of only seven minutes of arc and created a catalog (now lost) of 675 fixed stars. His most important work was a systematic treatise on geography. After becoming blind, he died in Alexandria of voluntary starvation.
"Eratosthenes," Microsoft(R) Encarta(R) 98 Encyclopedia. (c) 1993-1997 Microsoft Corporation. All rights
He knew that the sun was directly overhead in Syene on a given day, knew the distance from Syene to Alexandria, and from there measured the angle of the sun. The distance was measured in stadia, and that value has been questioned.
Entire Thread Subject Posted By Posted occiput wwh 12/17/01 03:45 PM Re: occiput of troy 12/17/01 05:06 PM Re: occiput wwh 01/03/02 01:21 AM Re: occiput Faldage 01/03/02 02:21 PM Re: occiput wwh 01/03/02 04:55 PM Re: round tuit maverick 01/08/02 12:15 AM . Max Quordlepleen 01/08/02 12:55 AM Re: round tuit AnnaStrophic 01/08/02 01:45 PM Re: external occiputal eminence Faldage 01/08/02 01:58 PM
Moderated by Jackie
Link Copied to Clipboard
Forum Statistics Forums16Topics13,913Posts229,421Members9,182 Most Online3,341
Dec 9th, 2011
Newest Members Ineffable, ddrinnan, TRIALNERRA, befuddledmind, KILL_YOUR_SUV
9,182 Registered Users
Who's Online Now 0 members (), 1,351 guests, and 10 robots. Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Top Posters(30 Days) A C Bowden 23
Top Posters wwh 13,858Faldage 13,803Jackie 11,613wofahulicodoc 10,592tsuwm 10,542LukeJavan8 9,922Buffalo Shrdlu 7,210AnnaStrophic 6,511Wordwind 6,296of troy 5,400
Forum Rules · Mark All Read Contact Us · Forum Help · Wordsmith.org