LETTERS: NCT, Aug. 12, 2008 Aug 13, 2008
8 percent of Europeans believed the world was flat, and were dismissive of a small cabal of pointy-headed elitists clinging desperately to the ideas of the foreigner (Greek, I believe he was) Eratosthenes and his bizzare 240 BC claim that the world was not only round, but calculating its circumference to almost precisely what would be confirmed by scientists hundreds of years later ... 8 percent of Europeans believed the world was flat, and were dismissive of a small cabal of pointy-headed... (North County Times)
The flat-earthers Aug 5, 2008
WORLD VIEW 330 BC Aristotle provides evidence of spherical earth 240 BC Eratosthenes of Cyrene accurately calculates circumference of globe 8th Century AD work by Bede shows acceptance of sphere idea. On 24 December 1968, the crew of the Apollo 8 mission took a photo now known as Earthrise. (BBC News -- Americas)
Odysseus's Return From the Trojan War Dated Jun 24, 2008
News for nerds, stuff that matters. Odysseus's Return From the Trojan War Dated. (Slashdot)
Obama is a leader, not elitist May 26, 2008
" girard74 wrote on May 24, 2008 5:54 PM:" Voter, my point with Eratosthenes was that even in pre-Biblical times there were those with ideas that were considered out of the mainstream ... " voter wrote on May 24, 2008 5:13 PM:" girard74 wrote on May 24, 2008 5:01 PM:" Voter wrote, such as Galileo, who you eluded to.Actually I was thinking more of Eratosthenes, although Galileo did have some good ideas. " ... It surprises me that you meant Eratosthenes when you wrote about people whose ideas were... (Lodi News Sentinel, CA)
Cosmic Quest May 21, 2008
Eratosthenes managed to measure the circumference of the Earth, while Hipparchus charted the positions of nearly 1000 stars. The Greeks even built the first computer the Antikythera Mechanism a clockwork dial which accurately predicted the positions of the Sun and Moon in the sky, along with eclipses. (FirstScience.com)
From a Flat to a Round Earth Feb 26, 2008
In the third century B.C., the Greek mathematician Eratosthenes even measured the circumference of the Earth using the shadows cast by the sun during the summer solstice at different locations and performing a bit of clever geometry. His estimate is thought to be within 10% of today s value, which is truly remarkable for the time. (Suite101.com)
Everyone loves a man in a white coat Feb 5, 2008
This means teaching early cosmology and physics by recreating Galileo's confrontations with the Pope as plays, or early geometry by recreating the experiment in which Eratosthenes calculated the diameter of the earth 2000 years ago. "The history, philosophy, sociology and economics of science should be an integral part of A-levels," he says, "So that no scientist emerges, blinking, into the world solely as a technocrat.". (Guardian Unlimited -- Life)
There are many posts about Bush, religion, the war, illegal aliens, all with differing opinions. We can take some simple facts and leave out the hateful rhetoric. 1--Bush is the most ignorant President in our history. 2--Religion should keep out of the state. It is a private personal belief. 3--The illegal alien invasion is real. It is against the law to sneak across the border. Illegals should be deported. More... Nov 8, 2007
" Scientific consensus in 1491 was universal that the world was ROUND, and they had the circumference figured within 100 miles of accuracy. This had been known since 240 BC when the Greek scientist Eratosthenes used measurement of sun angles and geometry to accurately compute the circumference of the Earth at about 24,000 miles, which is remarkably accurate. There was no scientific dispute. Common, uneducated people of the Dark Ages did believe the world was flat, but there was scientific... (North County Times)
