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Earth's circumference

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693:, whose job was to precisely measure the extent of the territory of Egypt for agricultural and taxation-related purposes. Furthermore, the fact that Eratosthenes' measure corresponds precisely to 252,000 stadia (according to Pliny) might be intentional, since it is a number that can be divided by all natural numbers from 1 to 10: some historians believe that Eratosthenes changed from the 250,000 value written by Cleomedes to this new value to simplify calculations; other historians of science, on the other side, believe that Eratosthenes introduced a new length unit based on the length of the meridian, as stated by Pliny, who writes about the stadion "according to Eratosthenes' ratio". 663: 659:. Depending on whether he used the "Olympic stade" (176.4 m) or the Italian stade (184.8 m), this would imply a circumference of 44,100 km (an error of 10%) or 46,100 km, an error of 15%. A value for the stadion of 157.7 metres has even been posited by L.V. Firsov, which would give an even better precision, but is plagued by calculation errors and false assumptions. In 2012, Anthony Abreu Mora repeated Eratosthenes's calculation with more accurate data; the result was 40,074 km, which is 66 km different (0.16%) from the currently accepted polar circumference. 844: 39: 651:, Egypt), the Sun was directly overhead, as the gnomon cast no shadow. Additionally, the shadow of someone looking down a deep well at that time in Syene blocked the reflection of the Sun on the water. Eratosthenes then measured the Sun's angle of elevation at noon in Alexandria by measuring the length of another gnomon's shadow on the ground. Using the length of the rod, and the length of the shadow, as the legs of a triangle, he calculated the angle of the sun's rays. This angle was about 7°, or 1/50th the circumference of a 540: 840:. They calculated the Earth's circumference to be within 15% of the modern value, and possibly much closer. How accurate it actually was is not known because of uncertainty in the conversion between the medieval Arabic units and modern units, but in any case, technical limitations of the methods and tools would not permit an accuracy better than about 5%. 748:
due north of Alexandria, and the difference in the star's elevation indicated the distance between the two locales was 1/48 of the circle, he multiplied 5,000 by 48 to arrive at a figure of 240,000 stadia for the circumference of the earth. It is generally thought that the stadion used by Posidonius
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of the Earth, making the prototype about 0.02% shorter than the original proposed definition of the metre. Regardless, this length became the French standard and was progressively adopted by other countries in Europe. This is why the polar circumference of the Earth is actually 40,008 kilometres,
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formula. This was the earliest known use of dip angle and the earliest practical use of the law of sines. However, the method could not provide more accurate results than previous methods, due to technical limitations, and so al-Biruni accepted the value calculated the previous century by the
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Illustration showing a portion of the globe showing a part of the African continent. The sun beams shown as two rays hitting earth at Syene and Alexandria. Angle of sun beam and the gnomons (vertical sticks) is shown at Alexandria which allowed Eratosthenes' estimate of the circumference of
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intended by Aryabhata is in dispute. One careful reading gives an equivalent of 14,200 kilometres (8,800 mi), too large by 11%. Another gives 15,360 km (9,540 mi), too large by 20%. Yet another gives 13,440 km (8,350 mi), too large by 5%.
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Eratosthenes' method was actually more complicated, as stated by the same Cleomedes, whose purpose was to present a simplified version of the one described in Eratosthenes' book. Pliny, for example, has quoted a value of 252,000 stadia.
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of a circle – such that the polar circumference of the Earth would be exactly 21,600 miles. Gunter used Snellius's circumference to define a nautical mile as 6,080 feet, the length of one minute of arc at 48 degrees latitude.
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was almost exactly 1/10 of a modern statute mile. Thus Posidonius's measure of 240,000 stadia translates to 24,000 mi (39,000 km), not much short of the actual circumference of 24,901 mi (40,074 km).
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had added some 26,000 stadia to Eratosthenes's estimate. The smaller value offered by Strabo and the different lengths of Greek and Roman stadia have created a persistent confusion around Posidonius's result.
655:; assuming the Earth to be perfectly spherical, he concluded that its circumference was 50 times the known distance from Alexandria to Syene (5,000 stadia, a figure that was checked yearly), i.e. 250,000 904:, he chose to believe that the Earth's circumference was 25% smaller. If, instead, Columbus had accepted Eratosthenes's larger value, he would have known that the place where he made landfall was not 1449:) stated that if the distance is measured by some other number the result will be different, and using 3,750 instead of 5,000 produces this estimation: 3,750 x 48 = 180,000; see Fischer I., (1975), 556:, with an error on the real value between −2.4% and +0.8% (assuming a value for the stadion between 155 and 160 metres; the exact value of the stadion remains a subject of debate to this day; see 753:
noted that the distance between Rhodes and Alexandria is 3,750 stadia, and reported Posidonius's estimate of the Earth's circumference to be 180,000 stadia or 18,000 mi (29,000 km).
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He assumes the simplified (but inaccurate) hypothesis that Syene and Alexandria are on the same meridian. Syene was actually about 3 degrees of longitude east of Alexandria.
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In 1793, France defined the metre so as to make the polar circumference of the Earth 40,000 kilometres. In order to measure this distance accurately, the
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mentions Posidonius among his sources and—without naming him—reported his method for estimating the Earth's circumference. He noted, however, that
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was based on these measurements, but it was later determined that its length was short by about 0.2 millimetres because of miscalculation of the
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Diagram showing how al-Biruni was able to calculate the Earth's circumference by measuring the dip of the horizon from a point at a known height.
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in the eighteenth. Earth's polar circumference is very near to 21,600 nautical miles because the nautical mile was intended to express one
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top, which made it possible for it to be measured by a single person from a single location. From the top of the mountain, he sighted the
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to determine latitude at sea. He reasoned that the lines of latitude could be used as the basis for a unit of measurement for
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assessed the circumference of the Earth at 24,630 Roman miles (24,024 statute miles). Around that time British mathematician
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In modern times, Earth's circumference has been used to define fundamental units of measurement of length: the
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Carl Sagan demonstrates how Eratosthenes determined that the Earth was round and the approximate circumference
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Behnaz Savizi (2007), "Applicable Problems in History of Mathematics: Practical Examples for the Classroom",
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between the latitude of the two locales is actually 5 degrees 14 minutes). Since he thought Rhodes was 5,000
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Measure of Earth's circumference according to Cleomedes' simplified version, based on the approximation that
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used Posidonius's lower value of 180,000 stades (about 33% too low) for the earth's circumference in his
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the Sun was directly overhead. Syene was actually north of the tropic by something less than a degree.
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studied what Eratosthenes had written about the size of the Earth. Nevertheless, based on a map by
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to be one ten millionth (i.e., a kilometre is one ten thousandth) of the arc from pole to equator (
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The Measure of All Things: The Seven-Year Odyssey and Hidden Error That Transformed the World
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which, along with the mountain's height (which he determined beforehand), he applied to the
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to popularise the discovery. Cleomedes invites his reader to consider two Egyptian cities,
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Another Look at Eratosthenes' and Posidonius' Determinations of the Earth's Circumference
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since ancient times. The first known scientific measurement and calculation was done by
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Groundbreaking Scientific Experiments, Inventions, and Discoveries of the Ancient World
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He assumes the simplified (but inaccurate) hypothesis that Syene was precisely on the
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The measure of Earth's circumference is the most famous among the results obtained by
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calculated the Earth's circumference by reference to the position of the star
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Mercier, Raymond (1992). "Geodesy". In Harley, J.B.; Woodward, David (eds.).
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Cleomedes assumes that the distance between Syene and Alexandria was 5,000
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Circumference: Eratosthenes and the Ancient Quest to Measure the Globe
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Measuring the Universe: Cosmic Dimensions from Aristarchus to Halley
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to attempt to accurately measure the distance between a belfry in
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in order to underestimate the distance to India as 70,000 stades.
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Before Galileo: The Birth of Modern Science in Medieval Europe
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and proposed the nautical mile as one minute or one-sixtieth (
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Measuring the Earth: Eratosthenes and His Celestial Geometry
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Measuring the Earth: Eratosthenes and His Celestial Geometry
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Measurement of Earth's circumference has been important to
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Historical use in the definition of units of measurement
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Eratosthenes described his technique in a book entitled
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Around AD 525, the Indian mathematician and astronomer
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Why Nautical Mile and Knot Are The Units Used at Sea?
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and under the previous assumptions, he knew that at
1453:, Ql. J. of the Royal Astron. Soc., Vol. 16, p.152. 1672: 851:A more convenient way to estimate was provided in 587:(a figure that was checked yearly by professional 922:History of the metre § Meridional definition 1749: 1481:Kak, Subhash (2010). "Aryabhata's Mathematics". 1429: 1427: 1182: 624:On the Circular Motions of the Celestial Bodies 1189:Shashi Shekhar; Hui Xiong (12 December 2007). 1559: 1261:. University of Chicago Press. pp. 4–5. 1158: 1156: 1154: 1152: 627:, around 240 BC, Eratosthenes calculated the 420: 18:For modern definitions and measurements, see 1648:Krebs, Robert E.; Krebs, Carolyn A. (2003). 1595:, p. 6 (Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow, 2010). 1537:The History of Cartography, Volume 2, Book 1 1424: 1135:. New York, NY: Watson-Guptill. p. 31. 1133:The Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Universe 948:improved navigational tools including a new 1044:through Dunkerque. The length of the first 867:calculations, based on the angle between a 1656:. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 52. 1647: 1256: 1149: 928:Meridian arc § History of measurement 427: 413: 394:Spatial Reference System Identifier (SRID) 389:International Terrestrial Reference System 1610: 1562:Teaching Mathematics and Its Applications 1530: 1528: 1526: 1517:"The_Aryabhatiya_of_Aryabhata_Clark_1930" 1486: 1103: 1670: 1374: 1372: 1322: 1320: 896:1,700 years after Eratosthenes's death, 842: 661: 538: 1671:Nicastro, Nicholas (25 November 2008). 1650:"Calculating the Earth's Circumference" 1534: 1391: 1130: 936:Arc measurement of Delambre and Méchain 703:Posidonius § Earth's circumference 1750: 1714: 1553: 1523: 1338: 1715:Lowrie, William (20 September 2007). 1616: 1398:Archive for History of Exact Sciences 1369: 1317: 1305: 1303: 1162: 1104:Humerfelt, Sigurd (26 October 2010). 828:to measure the distance from Tadmur ( 808: 1693: 1480: 891: 484:in the seventeenth century and the 399:Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) 361:European Terrestrial Ref. Sys. 1989 13: 1300: 1245:De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii 992:of a circle, one minute of arc is 635:. Using a vertical rod known as a 271:Ordnance Survey Great Britain 1936 237:Discrete Global Grid and Geocoding 128:Horizontal position representation 14: 1779: 1736: 1346:The Length of Eratosthenes' Stade 1215: 863:developed a new method of using 689:trips conducted by professional 685:The method was based on several 498:the metre was originally defined 187:Global Nav. Sat. Systems (GNSSs) 37: 1641: 1598: 1583: 1509: 1495: 1474: 1456: 1439: 1385: 740:degrees above the horizon (the 534: 351:N. American Vertical Datum 1988 1721:. Cambridge University Press. 1275: 1250: 1237: 1224: 1209: 1124: 1097: 1040:to estimate the length of the 976:of latitude. As one degree is 772:. This was the number used by 522:Spherical Earth § History 381:Internet link to a point 2010 311:Geodetic Reference System 1980 229:Quasi-Zenith Sat. Sys. (QZSS) 1: 1350:American Journal of Philology 1090: 1018:Jean Baptiste Joseph Delambre 696: 508:in metres or nautical miles. 371:Chinese obfuscated datum 2002 1174:. Berlin: Springer. p.  940:In 1617 the Dutch scientist 779: 674:and on the same meridian as 321:Geographic point coord. 1983 7: 1617:Alder, Ken (October 2003). 1257:Van Helden, Albert (1985). 1056: 932:Earth radius § History 726:he saw it ascend as far as 565:On the measure of the Earth 530:Meridian arc § History 526:Earth radius § History 281:Systema Koordinat 1942 goda 10: 1784: 1718:Fundamentals of Geophysics 1700:. Enslow Publishing, LLC. 1106:"How WGS 84 defines Earth" 1014:French Academy of Sciences 925: 919: 700: 643:on the summer solstice in 629:circumference of the Earth 515: 511: 341:World Geodetic System 1984 17: 1694:Gow, Mary (1 July 2009). 331:North American Datum 1983 301:South American Datum 1969 1392:Rawlins, Dennis (1983). 1218:The Forgotten Revolution 1170:The Forgotten Revolution 820:commissioned a group of 192:Global Pos. System (GPS) 159:Spatial reference system 1570:Oxford University Press 1364:(subscription required) 1679:. St. Martin's Press. 1623:. Simon and Schuster. 1382:, Book 2, Chapter 112. 1344:Donald Engels (1985). 848: 678: 545: 450:. Measured around the 1578:10.1093/teamat/hrl009 1131:Ridpath, Ian (2001). 926:Further information: 846: 665: 542: 440:Earth's circumference 87:Geographical distance 898:Christopher Columbus 800:. The length of the 774:Christopher Columbus 261:Sea Level Datum 1929 113:Geodetic coordinates 1287:www.eg.bucknell.edu 1243:Martianus Capella, 1192:Encyclopedia of GIS 1053:instead of 40,000. 1046:prototype metre bar 942:Willebrord Snellius 291:European Datum 1950 249:Standards (history) 149:Reference ellipsoid 97:Figure of the Earth 1410:10.1007/BF00348500 1380:Naturalis Historia 849: 822:Muslim astronomers 809:Islamic Golden Age 714:. As explained by 679: 575:and Syene (modern 546: 518:History of geodesy 169:Vertical positions 1728:978-1-139-46595-3 1707:978-0-7660-3120-3 1686:978-1-4299-5819-6 1663:978-0-313-31342-4 1630:978-0-7432-1676-0 1268:978-0-226-84882-2 1202:978-0-387-30858-6 1142:978-0-8230-2512-1 1078:Geographical mile 602:, saying that at 492:of latitude (see 437: 436: 385: 384: 164:Spatial relations 154:Satellite geodesy 109: 1775: 1732: 1711: 1690: 1678: 1667: 1635: 1634: 1614: 1608: 1604:Marine Insight, 1602: 1596: 1587: 1581: 1580: 1557: 1551: 1550: 1532: 1521: 1520: 1513: 1507: 1506: 1499: 1493: 1492: 1490: 1478: 1472: 1460: 1454: 1443: 1437: 1431: 1422: 1421: 1389: 1383: 1376: 1367: 1365: 1342: 1336: 1335: 1324: 1315: 1314: 1307: 1298: 1297: 1295: 1293: 1279: 1273: 1272: 1254: 1248: 1241: 1235: 1228: 1222: 1221: 1213: 1207: 1206: 1186: 1180: 1179: 1173: 1160: 1147: 1146: 1128: 1122: 1121: 1119: 1117: 1112:on 24 April 2011 1108:. Archived from 1101: 1007: 1005: 1004: 1001: 998: 991: 989: 988: 985: 982: 971: 969: 968: 965: 962: 892:Columbus's error 739: 738: 734: 731: 672:Tropic of Cancer 600:Tropic of Cancer 502:quarter meridian 429: 422: 415: 253: 252: 232: 224: 216: 208: 200: 140: 99: 41: 27: 26: 1783: 1782: 1778: 1777: 1776: 1774: 1773: 1772: 1763:Units of length 1748: 1747: 1739: 1729: 1708: 1687: 1664: 1644: 1639: 1638: 1631: 1615: 1611: 1603: 1599: 1588: 1584: 1558: 1554: 1547: 1533: 1524: 1515: 1514: 1510: 1501: 1500: 1496: 1479: 1475: 1461: 1457: 1447:in Fragment 202 1444: 1440: 1432: 1425: 1390: 1386: 1377: 1370: 1363: 1343: 1339: 1326: 1325: 1318: 1309: 1308: 1301: 1291: 1289: 1281: 1280: 1276: 1269: 1255: 1251: 1242: 1238: 1229: 1225: 1214: 1210: 1203: 1187: 1183: 1161: 1150: 1143: 1129: 1125: 1115: 1113: 1102: 1098: 1093: 1068:Spherical Earth 1059: 1034:Montjuïc castle 1002: 999: 996: 995: 993: 986: 983: 980: 979: 977: 966: 963: 960: 959: 957: 938: 924: 918: 908:, but rather a 894: 857:Codex 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Index

Earth radius
Geodesy

Geodesy
Geodynamics
Geomatics
History
Geographical distance
Geoid
Figure of the Earth
radius
circumference
Geodetic coordinates
Geodetic datum
Geodesic
Horizontal position representation
Latitude
Longitude
Map projection
Reference ellipsoid
Satellite geodesy
Spatial reference system
Spatial relations
Vertical positions
Global Nav. Sat. Systems (GNSSs)
Global Pos. System (GPS)
GLONASS (Russia)
BeiDou (BDS) (China)
Galileo (Europe)
NAVIC (India)

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