He was also the first know person to calculate the circumference of the earth. If alexandria and syene both lie on the same meridian, eratosthenes is guaranteed that two cities and the center of the earth are all contained in the same plane. And he compiled a history of the known world from all of the various narratives he could find in the library. He made several important contributions to mathematics and science, and was a good friend to archimedes.
Eratosthenes was the first person to use the word geography and other geographical terms that are still in use today, and his efforts to calculate the circumference of the earth and the distance from the earth to the sun paved the way for our. In this post, we are going to examine the history of world maps and see just how they have changed over thousands of years. Eratosthenes was educated in philosophy and mathematics in athens. Eratosthenes was born in the year 276 bc to aglaos and his wife. Reconstruction of eratosthenes map of the known world, c. Eratosthenes studied in alexandria, and claimed to have also studied for some years in athens. Eratosthenes article about eratosthenes by the free. Eratosthenes was an ancient greek scientist born in the town of cyrene in about 276 bc. Eratosthenes biography childhood, life achievements. It defined geography, explained how to draw a world map, and offered a gazetteer of over 8,000.
Eratosthenes 276194 bce drew an improved world map, incorporating information. He invented an easy method for finding out prime numbers. This slide shows a 19th century reconstruction of the world view of eratosthenes of cyrene 275194 b. Eratosthenes yearned to understand the complexities of the entire world. Eratosthenes reasoned that if two sticks of equal height are placed on the earths surface and. He was a poor man and it is assumed that eratosthenes was also born into poverty. Eratosthenes, the most knowledgeable man in the world eratosthenes was born in 276 b.
Eratosthenes eratosthenes calculated the circumference of the earth without leaving egypt. That mathematical method is now called the sieve of eratosthenes. Eratosthenes of cyrene if youre seeing this message, it means were having trouble loading external resources on our website. He invented a system of longitude and latitude and made a map of the known world. Reconstruction of the world map according to dicaearchus ca 300 bc. Eratosthenes was the second person to be head librarian there. I take pride in providing accurate descriptions of books condition dont be alarmed by. Eratosthenes 276 194 bc drew an improved world map, incorporating information from the campaigns of alexander the great and his successors. Who was muhammad alidrisi and what was his contribution to map making. The image above is from a painting by bernardo strozzi in the year 1635, nineteen centuries.
Eratosthenes, greek scientific writer, astronomer, and poet, who made the first measurement of the size of earth for which any details are known. Ask any geographer to name one individual responsible for founding their discipline, and they are likely to answer. In 236 bc he was appointed by ptolemy iii euergetes i as librarian of the alexandrian library, succeeding the second librarian, apollonius of rhodes, in that post. In this work, which for the first time described the geography of the entire inhabited world as it was then known, eratosthenes of kyrene ca. He invented the discipline of geography, including the terminology used today. Eratosthenes simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read eratosthenes geography.
Claudius ptolemaeus c100 adc170 lived in secondcentury alexandria, where he wrote the geographike hyphegesis c150, known today simply as the geography. Especially noted as an astronomer, he is credited with measuring the circumference and tilt of the earth and the size and distance from the earth of. His only surviving work is catasterisms, a book about constellations. True tf between the middle ages and the revival of geography in the 17th century, muslim scholars were engaged in describing and analyzing their known world and its physical, cultural, and regional variation. Earth was well known to be a globe for at least two hundred years before eratosthenes time. Since man first scratched a map in the dirt and used stones to indicate landmarks, the history and development of maps has been an incredibly interesting topic. The world according to eratosthenes educational technology. He calculated the circumference of the world without ever leaving egypt. Eratosthenes s world map, created somewhere between 276 and 194 bce, improved significantly on anaximanders by using information from the. Within the books of geographica is a map of europe. He was head of the library of alexandria from 240 bc until his death.
This video explains how eratosthenes calculated the earths circumference. This is the first modern edition and first english translation of one of the earliest and most important works in the history of geography, the thirdcentury geographika of eratosthenes. It was during his time as chief librarian at the library of alexandria in egypt that eratosthenes wrote a threevolume geographical treatise with an accompanying world map. I was quite ecstatic that it was actually written as a novel rather than a verse poem.
Eratosthenes calculated the circumference of the earth without leaving egypt. Eratosthenes is the ancient greek mathematician and geographer attributed with devising the first system of latitude and longitude. Ancient greek scholar, first person of written record to use the term geography, prepared one of the earliest maps of the known world. It is one of the first world maps known to historians and the original was thought to have been created between 610 and 546 bce. Eratosthenes map departed from earlier greek world maps and contributed to the development of greek cartography will be discussed throughout. Its numerous quotations from technical literature, moreover, provide a remarkable account of the state of greek geographical. This edition also includes maps that show all of the known places named. Asia became wider, reflecting the new understanding of the actual size of the continent. Map of a facsimile of the world map by eratosthenes around 220 bc. Sandell would use her poetic method into paragraph forms. This is a facsimile of the map he produced based on his calculations. Did eratosthenes discover that the world is round answers.
Eratosthenesknew that on the summer solstice at local noon in the ancient egyptian city of swenet known ingreek as syene, and in the modern day as aswan on the tropic of cancer, the sun wouldappear at the zenith, directly overhead he had been told that the shadow of someone lookingdown a deep. He has been known by many names including philologos the friend of learning, pentathos by his friends because of his varied accomplishments and beta because he was the second most knowledgeable in all branches of learning but never the first nndb tracking the entire world. A meridian is an imaginary circle on the earths surface which passes through both the north and south poles. The first greek to draw a world map using the assumption of a spherical earth was eratosthenes. Business insider to calculate the angle of incidence of the suns rays in alexandria on the summer solstice he had to use trigonometry concepts, which were already known to greek mathematicians, although using methods very different from those used today.
This thesis aims to reconstruct a map of the world drawn by eratosthenes of cyrene ca. Only hipparchus, strabo, and ptolemy were able to make more accurate maps in the classical and post classical world. What eratosthenes did was to measure the earths circumference for the first time. Study 83 terms geography chapter 1 flashcards quizlet. The only known information about his family was about his father, who was named aglaus.
Bunbury, a history of ancient geography among the greeks and romans from the earliest ages till the fall of the roman empire, 1883, public domain. Eratosthenes was also the first geographer to incorporate parallels and meridians within his cartographic depictions, attesting to his understanding of the. Eratosthenes experiment eratosthenes will always be remembered for the calculation of the earths circumference circa 240 bc, using trigonometry and knowledge of the angle of elevation of the sun at noon in alexandria and syene now aswan. Eratosthenes eratosthenes was an ancient greek scholar who was often called the father of geography. References from the fragments of eratosthenes geography indicate that his map of the world was influenced by the accounts of. If youre behind a web filter, please make sure that the domains. Eratosthenes the first spot has to go to the man who coined the term geography, eratosthenes.
Known for his versatility, he wrote poetry and works most of them lost on literature, the theater notably on ancient comedy, mathematics, astronomy, geography, and philosophy. Eratosthenes map digital maps of the ancient world. He also invented longitude and latitude, and made a map of the known world incorporating parallels and meridians. Besides figuring out the size of the earth, eratosthenes made several other important inventions and discoveries. His work is comparable to what is now known as the study of geography, and.
Eratosthenes map of the world illustration ancient history. He was a man of learning, becoming the chief librarian at the library of alexandria. Tf globalization refers to the increasing spatial interconnection of the world s social, cultural, and economic activities. A reconstructed map of the known world according to eratosthenes 276195 bce, the greek alexandrian scholar from cyrene. Eratosthenes, the most knowledgeable man in the world. Eratosthenes of cyrene 276 194 bc was a 3rd century bc greek mathematician, geographer and astronomer. Eratosthenes geography ebook written by eratosthenes. Eratosthenes 276194 bc drew an improved world map, incorporating information from the campaigns of alexander the great and his successors. The earliest known world maps date to classical antiquity, the oldest examples of the 6th to 5th. He created one of the earliest maps of the known world between 276195 bc, but his greatest contribution was the concept of latitude and longitude.
He was also the director of the library of alexandria. A map of the entire known world, from the british isles to ceylon, and from the caspian sea to ethiopia. Eratosthenes and the mystery of the stades meridian of. Eratosthenes may have been the first to use the word geography. Eratosthenes map of the world illustration ancient. Eratosthenes went to the then seat of learning in athens for his education and was taught by the best teachers of the day. Read and learn for free about the following article. Cyrene, then a greek city, is now the town of shahhat in libya. I cannot seem to grasp the right words needed to form a complete thought. Muslim cartographer and created a world map in 1154.
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