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How Did Eratosthenes Contribute To Science

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Eratosthenes was an Ancient Greek mathematician, scientist, geographer, and astronomer. He was born in Cyrene, Libya in 276 BC, and died in 194 BC in Alexandria, Egypt. He was educated in Platonic Academy, which originated as Plato's school of philosophy, founded in 385 BC in Athens. He became very intrigued in Plato's philosophical writings, and he even wrote his own book, "Platonikos", which put Plato's philosophies in a mathematical light. Eratosthenes excelled at many subjects. He wrote about geography, philosophy, mathematics, astronomy, history, and even wrote poems. He was given the nicknames "Philologos", or "lover of learning", as well as "Beta", which is the second letter of the Greek alphabet. He was often called "Beta' because although …show more content…

For example, he produced a reliable and logical process to discover prime numbers, called the Sieve of Eratosthenes. What he is most famous for, however, is being able to calculate the circumference of the Earth almost exactly. Eratosthenes noticed that on the summer solstice in Syene, the sun's rays shown straight down because he saw that in a deep well, the sun's rays reached the very bottom, and did not cast a shadow on the sides. He then placed a pole in Alexandria on the summer solstice and he observed that it did cast a shadow. Knowing that the Earth was a sphere and the distance between the two cities, he could calculate the circumference of the Earth. He measured the angle of the sun's parallel rays from the vertical and figured out it was 7.2 degrees. He also knew that the Earth's circumference was made up of 360 degrees, so 7.2 degrees would be about one-fiftieth of the circumference. He paid someone to find the distance between the two cities and got 5,000 stadia (the measurement for distance used at the time) and calculated that the circumference of the Earth was 250,000 stadia, or 25,000

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While using these techniques he wrongly discovered San Salvador which led to the discovery of the Americas. While he

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Born in Alexandria, Egypt ca. 90 AD while under the control of the Roman Empire, Claudius Ptolemy became one of the most influential natural philosophers during his time. His findings in the fields of astronomy, astrology, geography, and mathematics set the foundations for further discoveries in cosmology later on during medieval times in Europe and the Islamic world. Ptolemy was the author of several scientific works, including one of his most significant books: the Almagest, which contains his astronomy studies. Ptolemy was able to learn from the scientific works written by the likes of Aristotle and his predecessors and apply a new method to collect data to unveil ground breaking discoveries such as the geocentric model of

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By tracking the position of the Moon in the sky over time, he was able to estimate its size, a proposition that was debated in the scientific community for centuries after his death. Nonetheless, Aristarchus was correct about both of his propositions, his contributions to astronomy are considered important to this day and have been used as the foundation for astronomy. The fine styles used by Aristarchus to study the positions and movements of the stars give substantiation for the heliocentric model. One of the tools he used was a gnomon, a perpendicular rod that casted a shadow, which he used to measure the angles between the Sun, Earth, and Moon during a lunar eclipse. He also made compliances with solar and lunar eclipses which allowed him to estimate the relative sizes of the Sun and Moon [2].

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According to the Webster Dictionary, the definition of a superstition is an “excessively credulous belief in and reverence for supernatural beings”. In The Article, “Embrace the Supernatural” by Thorin Klosowski, Dr. Vyse talks about ways superstitions can be helpful and damaging. Even though sometimes people think superstitions are crazy, they can give a sense of control when we are nervous. Dr. Vyse states, “Superstitious rituals can give us a sense of control when we’re feeling anxious or when we don’t have a lot of control over a situation. This illusory feeling of control can enhance real control and boost performance in some situations” (lines 211-217).

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Greece is known for its incredible advancements in math and science. The Greeks mainly focused on philosophy, astronomy, and geometry. Many of the well-known and successful people in ancient Greece include Aristotle, Plato, Socrates, and Euclid. Euclid was a highly regarded mathematician who compiled a geometry text. In a book titled Elements written by Euclid in about 300 BCE.E., he presented 465 geometry propositions and proofs.

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Thucydides was an athenian historian and strategos in Athenian War. He was born in Alimos, Greece between the years 460 and 455 B.C. and died between the years 411 and 400 B.C. He has contributed in the strategic interaction of states during his era. He is also known as the father of scientific history and political realism (Kemos, 2005). Thucydides became a general in the Athenian army.

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According to famous-mathematicians.org Archimedes is known to be one of the most famous of all Greek mathematicians. Archimedes was a very intelligent engineer along with being a intelligent theorist. Archimedes was born in Syracuse, Sicily, Italy in 287 BC. Archimedes primary focus with geometry was the discipline of geometry. Before he became a famous Greek mathematician he was an accomplished musician and poet.

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Plato was a mathematician who eventually became a scholar and opened the Academy. He grew up in Athens, then decided to travel the mediterranean, landing in Egypt, Sicily, and Italy. As he traveled back to Athens he was sold as a slave, but was quickly ransomed by friends. When he arrived back, he proclaimed himself a philosopher, and opened the Academy to serve as a school for others who aspired to be philosophers. The Academy became a highly esteemed school throughout the Roman empire.

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Plato (424 - 347 BC) guessed the circumference of the earth to be roughly between 62,800 and 74,000 km. In Egypt a Greek scholar by the name of Eratosthenes used mathematics to make a much more precise and accurate approximation of the earth’s circumference. Eratosthenes knew that at midday on one day each year in Syene, a town in southern Egypt, there was no shadow at the bottom of a well. This meant that at midday during that day the sun was directly above Syene. At midday on the same day in the town of Alexandria, roughly 800 km to the North, a tower cast a shadow.

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Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and a student at PLATO’S Academy. After Plato’s death, Aristotle left the academy and traveled the country before returning to Athens in 334 BC where he founded his own school, the Lyceum. (pg xiii) Many of his works were lost over the years. Those that survived, and are completed works, are thought to have come from his lectures at Lyceum.

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Plato was a student of Socrates and teacher of Aristotle. He was the most dedicated young follower of Socrates. Everything we know about Socrates we learned from Plato, his student. Inspired by Socrates’s dialogues, Plato became a writer and a teacher. After Socrate’s death, 399 BC, Plato traveled twelve years throughout the Mediterranean region studying mathematics with the Pythagoreons in Italy and geometry, geology, astronomy, and religion in

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Claudius Ptolemy, a Greek Geographer and Astronomer, came up with this theory. Everyone later on came to believe the geocentric theory. Controversy augmented when Nicolaus evolved the heliocentric theory, which was later included in Book I of De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium. A lot of people told Nicolaus that his findings were incorrect and irrelevant because they strongly believed in Claudius 's previous statement. Book I also sketches of the solar system that helps defend the heliocentric theory.

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Plato (437-347) was Socrates' prized understudy. From a well off and compelling family, his genuine name was Aristocles - Plato was a moniker, alluding to his expansive body. When he was around twenty, he went under Socrates' spell and chose to commit himself to rationality. Crushed by Socrates' passing, he meandered around Greece and the Mediterranean and was taken by privateers. His companions raised cash to payoff him from subjection, however when he was discharged without it, they purchased him a little property called Academus to begin a school - the Academy, established in 386.

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