Who was Eratosthenes parents?
The son of Aglaos, Eratosthenes was born in 276 BC in Cyrene. Now part of modern-day Libya, Cyrene had been founded by Greeks centuries earlier and became the capital of Pentapolis (North Africa), a country of five cities: Cyrene, Arsinoe, Berenice, Ptolemias, and Apollonia.
What is Eratosthenes full name?
Eratosthenes of Cyrene
Eratosthenes, in full Eratosthenes of Cyrene, (born c. 276 bce, Cyrene, Libya—died c. 194 bce, Alexandria, Egypt), Greek scientific writer, astronomer, and poet, who made the first measurement of the size of Earth for which any details are known.
What was Eratosthenes life like?
Lived c. 276 BC – c. 194 BC. Eratosthenes was an Ancient Greek scientist born in the town of Cyrene in about 276 BC. Cyrene, then a Greek city, is now the town of Shahhat in Libya. Eratosthenes was educated in philosophy and mathematics in Athens. We do not know what he looked like.
When and where did Eratosthenes live?
Eratosthenes was born in 276 B.C. in the city of Cyrene which is in the modern-day country of Libya. He studied for a few years in Athens. Later, he studied and spent most of his adult life in Alexandria. He died in Alexandria in 194 B.C. at the age of 82 years.
What race was Eratosthenes?
Eratosthenes was a Greek mathematician who is famous for his work on prime numbers and for measuring the diameter of the earth.
How did Eratosthenes prove that the earth is round?
Eratosthenes erected a pole in Alexandria, and on the summer solstice he observed that it cast a shadow, proving that the Sun was not directly overhead but slightly south. Recognizing the curvature of the Earth and knowing the distance between the two cities enabled Eratosthenes to calculate the planet’s circumference.
How old is Eratosthenes?
82 years (276 BC–194 BC)Eratosthenes / Age at death
When did Eratosthenes go to Athens?
Eratosthenes was born around 276 BCE in a Greek colony in Cyrene, a territory located in present-day Libya. He was educated at the academies of Athens and in 245 BCE, after earning attention for his skills, he was invited by Pharaoh Ptolemy III to run the Great Library at Alexandria in Egypt.
Is Euclid black?
This stands unclaimed and has done for several years. Further, though the text Elements (which Euclid supposedly wrote) comes from Alexandria in Africa, its author is commonly visualised as a white man. But it is rather more likely that the anonymous “author of the Elements” was a black woman.
Was Eratosthenes an African?
Born in 276 BC in Cyrene, the present-day city of Shahhat, Libya in North Africa, Eratosthenes grew to become a keen learner and a man of many talents. This made his colleagues and friends at the library give him the nickname “Pentathlos”, which is an athlete who competes in five different events.
Who discovered the Earth hangs on nothing?
Nicolaus Copernicus
| Nicolaus Copernicus | |
|---|---|
| Born | 19 February 1473 Thorn, Royal Prussia, Poland |
| Died | 24 May 1543 (aged 70) Frauenburg, Royal Prussia, Poland |
| Education | University of Kraków (1491–95) University of Bologna (1496–1500) University of Padua (1501–03) University of Ferrara (DCanL, 1503) |
How accurate was Eratosthenes?
Values between 500 and about 600 feet have been suggested, putting Eratosthenes’ calculated circumference between about 24,000 miles and about 29,000 miles. While not exactly correct, these assumptions are good enough to make a quite accurate measurement using Eratosthenes’ method.
When did Eratosthenes live?
Lived c. 276 BC – c. 194 BC. Eratosthenes was an Ancient Greek scientist born in the town of Cyrene in about 276 BC. Cyrene, then a Greek city, is now the town of Shahhat in Libya.
What is the difference between Eratosthenes and Archimedes?
Eratosthenes lived in Alexandria, Egypt, part of Ancient Greece. He was born in about 276 BC and died in about 194 BC. Archimedes lived in Syracuse, Sicily, part of Ancient Greece. He was born in about 287 BC and died in 212 BC.
What are the contributions of Eratosthenes in the field of math?
• Eratosthenes produced a reliable, logical method to discover prime numbers: The Sieve of Eratosthenes. In an updated form, this is still important in modern number theory. • In about 240 BC Eratosthenes calculated Earth’s size with good accuracy.
What did Eratosthenes learn about the walls of Syene?
Eratosthenes learned that at midday, on the longest day of the year, walls in the city of Syene cast no shadows, because the sun was directly overhead. He could see with his own eyes in Alexandria that there were small shadows at midday on the longest day.