Eratosthenes and the Measurement of the Earth's Circumference (c.230 BC)
Christopher A. Matthew
Published:
2023
Online ISBN:
9780191986727
Print ISBN:
9780198874294
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Eratosthenes and the Measurement of the Earth's Circumference (c.230 BC)
Christopher A. Matthew
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Christopher A. Matthew
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June 2023
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Matthew, Christopher A., 'Historical Background', Eratosthenes and the Measurement of the Earth's Circumference (c.230 BC) (
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Abstract
This chapter examines the ancient and modern sources available for the study of Eratosthenes’ experiment to calculate the circumference of the Earth in the third century BC. This chapter also contains a biography of Eratosthenes which looks at his life, education, career, and the city in which he grew up (Cyene). This is followed by an overview of the city of Alexandria and why it became a focus of intellectual enquiry in the ancient world during the politically turbulent times following the death of Alexander the Great through its engagement with its main rival for cultural supremacy in the Greek world—the city of Pergamon. The chapter concludes with an examination of Greek astronomical though up to the time of Eratosthenes. This is done to place the chapters that follow into their correct historical context.
Keywords: Eratosthenes, Alexandria, Ancient Greek Science, Ancient Sources, Great Library
Subject
Logic History of Mathematics
Collection: Oxford Scholarship Online
Eratosthenes and the Measurement of the Earth's Circumference (c.230bc). Christopher A. Matthew, Oxford University Press. © Christopher A. Matthew (2023). DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780198874294.003.0001
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