How did Eratosthenes estimate the size of Earth in 240 B. C.?

a. By sending fleets of ships around Earth

b. by comparing the maximum altitude of the Sun in two cities at different latitudes

c. by observing the duration of a solar eclipse by measuring the size of Earth's shadow on the Moon in a lunar eclipse.

d. We don't know how he did it since all his writings were destroyed.

Question

History

Karen Oconnor

16 October, 21:43

How did Eratosthenes estimate the size of Earth in 240 B. C.?

a. By sending fleets of ships around Earth

b. by comparing the maximum altitude of the Sun in two cities at different latitudes

c. by observing the duration of a solar eclipse by measuring the size of Earth's shadow on the Moon in a lunar eclipse.

d. We don't know how he did it since all his writings were destroyed.

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Answers (1)

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Carina Schmitt · Answer 1

The correct answer is letter C

Eratosthenes of Cyrene was an important pre-Socratic geographer, mathematician, astronomer and philosopher. He is considered the father of Geography in Antiquity, due to the important studies on the measurements of the Earth that he carried out. He was one of the leading scientists and thinkers in Ancient Greece.