When did geodesy begin?
in antiquity
When did it flourish?
during the Age of Enlightenment
Which Greek argued for a flat Earth?
Homer
Who argued for a perfect sphere?
Pythagoras
Who later agreed with him?
Aristotle
Why did Pythagoras think the Earth was a sphere?
Because the most perfect figure was a sphere.
Who thought the Earth was rectangular?
Anaximenes
Who was Anaximenes?
an early Greek philosopher
How did early ideas describe the heavens?
a dome over the earth
How does the position of Polaris change as one goes South?
it's seen lower in the sky
What measurement did Plato make?
the circumference of the Earth
What units of measurement did he use?
stadia
What did he measure the circumference as?
400,000 stadia
What range of km does this convert to?
62,800 and 74,000
Is that larger than Earth's actual circumference in km?
yes
What is the actual value in km?
40,000
Did Plato and Archimedes arrive at the same measurement?
no
What was Archimedes' estimate?
300,000 stadia
Using what kind of stadia?
the Hellenic stadion
How did Plato arrive at his estimate?
a guess