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It was not a "scientist" in our modern concept of the term that discovered the spherical nature of the Earth. All sailors who have sailed out a few dozen kilometers from the coast have always known that the earth is spherical. As they approached a coast, first they saw the high points of the land and as they got closer, more and more of the lower areas. This happens everywhere and if you go to a lake when it is calm you can see the effect as you look across and lower your head towards the surface of the water (if the lake is small - less then a few hundred meters - then the water will have to be very quiet and you will need to get quite close- but there is no doubt that the surface is spherical!
Eratosthenes calculated the size of the Earth to within a few percent of the real value about 2250 years ago.
The moon was also known to be spherical in prehistoric times. On a sunny day, when the moon is visible in the sky, hold a ball up so that it is very near the position of the moon. You will see that the shadow on the ball and the moon have exactly the same shape, no matter when during the month you perform this experiment. The simplest (and true) explanation is that the moon and the ball have the same shape.
Wiki User
∙ 14y ago
Wiki User
∙ 15y agoIt was known the earth was a sphere since ancient times. Around 400 BCE the Greeks calculated the distance to the moon as about 60 earth diameters, based on the time it took earth's shadow to cross the moon's surface during a lunar eclipse. Pretty clever of them. By 200 BCE Eratosthenes determined how to calculate the circumference of the earth, and did so from his post as librarian at Alexandria, the famous city on the coast of Egypt.
Wiki User
∙ 11y agoIn 1687, Isaac newton said the shape of Earth should be an oblate ellipsoid (also called oblate spheroid) instead of a sphere and that was confirmed by measurements of French mathematician and physicist Pierre Louis Maupertuis in 1736.
Wiki User
∙ 8y agoThe concept of a spherical Earth dates back to around the 6th century BC, when it was mentioned in ancient Greek philosophy. Earth's sphericity was later achieved by Ferdinand Magellan and Juan Sebastián Elcano's expedition's circumnavigation (1519−1522).
Wiki User
∙ 14y agoAristotle
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What two important astronomical discoveries did the Guptas make?
The Guptas discovered that the earth is round and that it spins on an axis.
What is Inge lehman contribution?
Inge Lehman, a Danish scientist, discovered the solid core of the Earth.
Which explorer discovered the world was round?
No one. The explorers all ready knew the earth was round well before they began exploring. This is a fable that they didn't know.
What two things did Galileo contribute to modern science?
He Discovered that Earth was not the center of the solar system , Jupiter Has four moons and Venus has a face like a moon!! He also discovered the rings of Saturn. all this he just use one telescope?
What important observation did Edwin Hubble make about the movement of galaxies?
In the late 1920s, the astronomer Edwin Hubble discovered that most of the galaxies he observed were moving away from Earth.
What is the SI unit of sphericity?
There is not a standard SI unit to measure sphericity.
What are current evidences about earths sphericity?
It is the Picture of the Earth taken at different angles from the orbiting satellites.
What is Krumbein's sphericity and what is it's equation?
Krumbein's sphericity determines the roundness of a rock. The forumal is the cube root of DsDi/Di^2
When is Sphericity of cylinder is 1?
it can't be equal to 1
What is the sphericity for a cylinder whose length equals to diameter?
1
WHERE was the moon discovered?
in the earth, people discovered
Was Mars discovered before earth?
No. The first person to look down discovered Earth.
Was Uranus discovered before Earth?
No. The first person to look down discovered Earth.
How did Galileo discovered that the earth is a sphere?
Actually, Galileo wasn't the person who discovered that the earth was a sphere.
How did they discover earth?
It was not discovered. God made the Earth and and He made Adam and Eve who were the first people on Earth.. It was not discovered. NOTE: Many things exist without being technically "discovered". Earth is one example of many.
Who discovered why earth has seasons?
Kevin Rudd discovered the seasons.
How and when was solar energy discovered or invented?
it was invented when the earth was discovered
