DEVINA DASUL - HUMSS 11

HOW THE GREEKS KNEW THAT THE EARTH IS SPHERICAL

Around 500 B.C., most Greeks believed that the Earth was round, not flat. It was.

Pythagoras and his pupils who were first to propose a spherical Earth.

In 500 to 430 B.C., Anaxagoras further supported Pythagoras' proposal through his

observations of the shadows that the Earth cast on the Moon during a lunar eclipse.

He observed that during a lunar eclipse, the Earth's shadow was reflected on the

Moon's surface. The shadow reflected was circular.

Around 340 B.C., Aristotle listed several arguments for a spherical Earth which

included the positions of the North star, the shape of the Moon and the Sun, and the

disappearance of the ships when they sail over the horizon.