History
A Brief History of the Erastosthenes Experiment
Born
in North Africa in 276 BC, Erastosthenes was among
the leading mathematicians of his time. His
experiment to determine the circumference of the
earth was the first experiment of its kind to obtain
such amazingly accurate results without the use of
technology what so ever. Erastosthenes' experiment
relied on theory, innovation, and just a little luck.
Technically, our experiment will be a little bit
different. Erastosthenes depended on guesswork to
determine that Syene and Alexandria were on the same
latitude. We, however, will not depend on this for
our measurements. With the longitudinal and
latitudinal coordinates of your experiment site,
together we can use trigonometry to determine the
radius and circumference of the earth. Just remember
that the most important elements of the measurements
are the exact 90° angle, The length of the meter
stick, and the length of the shadow at exactly twelve
noon (your local time). If these measurements are
correct, the others can be extrapolated with relative
ease.
Aaron Dalnoot- Historian and theoritician
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Updated: September 15th, 2000 at 7:31 PM ET