Eratosthenes of Cyrene the Astronomer

that Syene is slightly north of the Tropic of Cancer, is not directly south of Alexandria, and the sun appears as a disk located at a finite distance from the earth instead of as a point source of light at an infinite distance. There are other sources of experimental error: the greatest limitation to Eratosthenes' method was that, in antiquity, overland distance measurements were not reliable[citation needed], especially for travel along the non-linear Nile which was traveled primarily by boat ...
Author: tektamos; Tags: Eratosthenes of Cyrene the Astronomer


















