How Eratosthenes measured the earth. Part 2a.
The ongoing story of Eratosthenes' measurement, grounded in ancient evidence.
Part 2a introduces the basic principle of the measurement; the technological hurdles involved; and how he solved the problem of simultaneous measurements.
(This was _not_ a problem to be solved with two sticks!)
(Reading time: 16 minutes)
#ancientscience #eratosthenes #geography #ancientgreece
https://kiwihellenist.blogspot.com/2023/06/eratosthenes-2a.html
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@KiwiHellenist Are you the person who pointed out, on Twitter years ago, that bematists were probably not literally counting steps as their primary mode of surveying? If so, I appreciated that, and I hope that idea makes an appearance in this series.
@vruba That was me, yes! I haven't published an article on that because it turns out Hellenistic surveying is a deep deep rabbit hole and there doesn't seem to be any way of telling when you've reached the bottom.
Part 2b does mention the problem of the meaning of 'bematist' but only tangentially I'm afraid.