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Erastosthenes: Measuring the Size of the Earth Scott Morrison 8.282J / 12.402J 5 Feb 2009
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Erastosthenes of Cyrene (275 - 194 B.C.) Chief librarian of Alexandria from 240 B.C. until his death His goal: to “reform the map of the world” in a systematic way Most famous for giving a good estimate for the Earth's size
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Erastosthenes of Cyrene (275 - 194 B.C.) The world as described by Herodotus, ca. 450 B.C.
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Erastosthenes of Cyrene (275 - 194 B.C.) Erastosthenes' improvements to the world map, 194 B.C.
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Erastosthenes of Cyrene (275 - 194 B.C.) The Greeks had known several earth models by 500 B.C. Homer: disk-shaped earth, heavenly dome Pythagoras: ball-shaped earth, celestial sphere Again, our observations of the stars make it evident, not only that the earth is circular, but that it is a circle of no great size. For quite a small change of position to south or north causes a manifest alteration of the horizon. There is much change, I mean, in the stars which are overhead, and the stars seen are different, as one moves northward or southward” Aristotle, “On the Heavens”, Book II, Chapter 14
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Erastosthenes of Cyrene (275 - 194 B.C.) Obvious question: how big? Observations: At Syene, no shadows At Alexandria, 1/50 of circle Distance is 5000 stades Assumptions: Earth is a perfect sphere Sun's rays parallel Syene is due south of Alex. 250,000 stades = 39,700 to 45,000 km Actual: 40,075 km
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Erastosthenes of Cyrene (275 - 194 B.C.) How good are these measurements? Syene is actually 30' north of Tropic or Cancer Actual angle between cities is 7' less than stated True distance is 5,300 stades by road—4,530 stades directly Assumptions? Oblate spheroid: error is 1 part in 300 Rays are parallel to 1 part in 100,000 2° longitude between the two—so effective distance is 5% less Whichever definition of a stade you use, error is about 10%.
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Erastosthenes of Cyrene (275 - 194 B.C.) An amusing story about Columbus and his trip to Japan America: Marinus of Tyre (ca. 70 - 130 A.D.) got a circumference 20% smaller. He wrote that the “terrestrial landmass” (i.e. Eurasia) subtended five-eighths of Earth, leaving only 135° of ocean. Al-Farghani: 1 degree = Arabic miles (1830 m). Columbus used Italian miles (1238 m) instead. Result: he thought the distance to the Orient was 3,700 km, not 19,600 km.
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