When was the circumference of the Earth calculated for the first time with remarkable accuracy (13.6% of error)?
in 3rd century B.C.
in 12th century
in 15th century
in 17th century
Eratosthenes of Cyrene was the chief librarian at the Library of Alexandria. He is best known for being the first person to calculate the circumference of the Earth. He did it by measuring Sun's angle of elevation at noon on the solstice in Alexandria, knowing, that at the same time the Sun is at Zenith in the Ancient Egyptian city of Swenet, 5000 stades from Alexandria. Seventeen hundred years after Christopher Columbus studied Eratosthenes writings and decided that the calculations were wrong, and the Earth must be smaller - which led him to seek India in the west.
reach: rather globalancient Greecediscoveriesgeographershistory of geographyhistory of Sciencemathematicians
Answers by country
in 3rd century B.C.
in 12th century
in 15th century
in 17th century
answers
Greece
27
France
20
New Zealand
20
Australia
31
Republic of Ireland
32
the United Kingdom
123
Russia
24
Ukraine
52
Canada
23
Poland
9736
Austria
135
Estonia
13
the Philippines
12
the United States
162
Unknown
33
India
74
Germany
718
Italy
13
the Netherlands
14
Switzerland
76