Welcome back to episode 5 of “Giants Helped Me Do It”, the podcast covering the innovations and inventions of the past from cultures all aorund the world.
This time around, we are looking at how, with simple tools, Eratosthenes and Al-Biruni were able to calculate, with astounding accuracy, the circumference of the globe, to levels of accuracy that would rival that of results well into the 16th century.
Below you will find some images that may be useful to look at, while listening to the podcast, particularly the part where I exmplain how Al-Biruni calculated his value for the Earth’s Circumference:
As always, if you have questions, leave them in the comments below and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible!
Sources
“This Month in Physics History.” Accessed July 19, 2020. http://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/200606/history.cfm.
“Eratosthenes and the Mystery of the Stades - How Long Is a Stade? | Mathematical Association of America.” Accessed July 19, 2020. https://www.maa.org/press/periodicals/convergence/eratosthenes-and-the-mystery-of-the-stades-how-long-is-a-stade.
Strabo. „The Geography of Strabo, Volume 1 (of 3) Literally Translated, with Notes“. Https://Www.Gutenberg.Org/Files/44884/44884-h/44884-h.Htm, https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/44884/pg44884-images.html. Zugegriffen 23. Oktober 2023.
Pollio, Vitruvius. „The Ten Books on Architecture“. Https://Www.Gutenberg.Org/Files/20239/20239-h/20239-h.Htm, https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/20239/pg20239-images.html. Zugegriffen 9. Oktober 2023.
„Al Biruni and the Size of the Earth“. ThatsMaths, 10. Juni 2021, https://thatsmaths.com/2021/06/10/al-biruni-and-the-size-of-the-earth/.
StormsHalted. „Al-Biruni’s Classic Experiment: How to Calculate the Radius of the Earth“. Owlcation, 24. November 2022, https://owlcation.com/stem/How-to-Determin-the-Radius-of-the-Earth-Al-Birunis-Classic-Experiment.
Al-Bīrūnī | Persian Scholar, Astronomer, Mathematician & Geographer | Britannica. 24. November 2023, https://www.britannica.com/biography/al-Biruni.
Eratosthenes | Biography, Discoveries, Sieve, & Facts | Britannica. 24. November 2023, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Eratosthenes.
Ferdinand Magellan | Biography, Voyage, Map, Accomplishments, Route, Discoveries, Death, & Facts | Britannica. 3. November 2023, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ferdinand-Magellan.
Jean Picard | Astronomer, Celestial Measurements, Geodesy | Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jean-Picard. Zugegriffen 8. Dezember 2023.
Friedrich Georg Wilhelm von Struve | Russian Astronomer & Geodesist | Britannica. 19. November 2023, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Friedrich-Georg-Wilhelm-von-Struve.
Centre, UNESCO World Heritage. „Struve Geodetic Arc“. UNESCO World Heritage Centre, https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1187/. Zugegriffen 8. Dezember 2023.
Music credit:
"Return of the Mummy" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
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