Portrait: AI-generated imagined likeness
Astronomer · Mathematician · Philosopher · Poet · historian
Scholar of the Hellenistic period. He is known for working at the Library of Alexandria and for measuring the size of the Earth. He is a person who thinks about the development of ancient science and geography.
View in catalogAlexandria
Work
Measurement of Earth circumference
Discovery
Map: Natural Earth (PD)
Born in Cyrene, North Africa, he received a Greek-speaking education. After Alexander, Alexandria in Egypt became the center of learning in the Mediterranean world.
Using the difference in the altitude of the sun on the day of the summer solstice, the circumference of the Earth was estimated from the distance between Syene and Alexandria. He was a comprehensive scholar who also worked on maps, chronology, mathematics, and poetry.
Because of his wide range of talents, Eratosthenes is said to have been given the nickname "second best in every field." However, its breadth is a good indicator of the comprehensiveness of ancient scholarship.
When we study Eratosthenes, we learn that scientific reasoning, which combined observation, geometry, and distance measurement, was well developed in ancient times. You can also understand the academic networks of the Hellenistic world. It can also be used for comparison with surrounding areas from the same era.
