Re: New book identifies Ireland as Atlantis

From: Martyn Harrison (nospam_at_spammers.of.the.world.unite)
Date: 08/09/04 

Date: Mon, 09 Aug 2004 13:45:00 GMT

http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/sa/SAIRC/1997/50.html

Apparently on date 8 Aug 2004 08:27:03 -0700, geraldkelleher@hotmail.com
(Oriel36) said:

>Any reference in textbooks to the measurement of the Earth is
>attributed to Erathostenes but for those who dig a bit deeper it is
>more blurred than that much like the discovery of the wheel,the
>division of the day in 24 hours or the division of a circle into 360
>degrees.

Erathostenes is the earliest recorded attempt at measuring the size of the
sphere of the Earth.

This does not mean he is the first to suggest it is a sphere or to attempt to
assess the size, and I doubt anyone here* thinks it was an invention of
Erathostenes as such. As with everything else, measuring improves with time,
new methods become available, old figures grow out of date.

The choice of what units to divide up circles, time and (for that matter) pies,
is somewhat arbitrary, they're not so much invented as chosen. 24 is a good
unit because you can divide that evenly into 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 and 12 pieces. This
is important when your culture tends to share out the swag by doing "one gold
piece for you, one for me, and one for Kevin's widow".

(* - among those in the Sensible Regiment, I mean. For the Mentally Light
Brigade, all bets are off.)

Relevant Pages

  • Re: New book identifies Ireland as Atlantis
    ... >Erathostenes is the earliest recorded attempt at measuring the size of the ... >sphere of the Earth. ... and I doubt anyone here* thinks it was an invention of ... As with everything else, measuring improves with time, ...
    (sci.archaeology)
  • Re: New book identifies Ireland as Atlantis
    ... >Erathostenes is the earliest recorded attempt at measuring the size of the ... >sphere of the Earth. ... and I doubt anyone here* thinks it was an invention of ... As with everything else, measuring improves with time, ...
    (sci.geo.geology)
  • Re: New book identifies Ireland as Atlantis
    ... Erathostenes is the earliest recorded attempt at measuring the size of the ... This does not mean he is the first to suggest it is a sphere or to attempt to ... and I doubt anyone here* thinks it was an invention of ...
    (sci.geo.geology)
Loading