How the Greeks Knew the Earth is Spherical

*Understanding the Spherical Earth: Insights from Ancient Greece*

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*Introduction*
The concept of a spherical Earth was proposed and supported by various Greek philosophers and
mathematicians. Contrary to the common misconception of a flat Earth in ancient times, these
Greek scholars used empirical observations and logical reasoning to infer the Earth's shape.

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*Key Figures and Contributions*

*1. Pythagoras (c. 570 – c. 495 BCE)*

- *Philosophical Reasoning:* Pythagoras may not have provided empirical evidence, but he
suggested a spherical Earth based on the idea of perfection in nature, as the sphere was
considered a perfect shape.

*2. Plato (c. 428/427 – c. 348/347 BCE)*

- *Educational Influence:* Plato spoke of a spherical Earth in his dialogues, influencing his
students and the philosophical thought of his time.

*3. Aristotle (384–322 BCE)*

- *Empirical Observations:*
- *Lunar Eclipse:* Aristotle observed Earth's round shadow on the Moon during a lunar eclipse,
indicating a spherical shape.
- *Star Visibility:* He noted that constellations visible in Egypt and Cyprus were not visible further
north, and vice versa, which could only happen on a curved surface.
- *Horizon Effect:* The way ships disappear hull-first over the horizon indicated Earth's curvature.

*4. Eratosthenes (c. 276 – c. 194/195 BCE)*

- *Measuring Earth’s Circumference:*
- *Sun’s Angle:* Eratosthenes measured the Earth’s circumference by comparing the angle of the
Sun’s rays at noon in Syene (modern-day Aswan, Egypt) and Alexandria.
- *Geometric Calculation:* He used the difference in the Sun's angle and the distance between
the two cities to calculate the Earth's circumference with remarkable accuracy.

*5. Posidonius (c. 135 – c. 51 BCE)*

- *Stellar Calculations:* Posidonius estimated Earth's circumference by measuring the angle
between the star Canopus and the horizon from different locations.

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*Scientific Principles Involved*

- *Geometry and Trigonometry:* Greek scholars applied geometric principles and early
trigonometry to calculate distances and angles, pivotal in understanding the Earth's shape.

- *Astronomical Observations:* Systematic observations of the stars, planets, and natural

phenomena like eclipses provided data for their theories.

- *Empirical Evidence and Logical Deduction:* The Greeks valued observable evidence and logical
reasoning, which led them to deduce a spherical Earth.

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*Impact and Legacy*

- The Greek understanding of a spherical Earth laid the foundation for astronomy, geography, and
navigation for centuries to come.
- These ancient insights were passed on through the works of scholars in the Islamic Golden Age
and later into the Renaissance, influencing modern science.
- The methodology of using observation and reason to understand our world is a cornerstone of
scientific inquiry established by these Greek philosophers.

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*Conclusion*

The Greeks knew the Earth was spherical through a combination of philosophical reasoning,
empirical observations, and mathematical calculations. Their work is a testament to human
curiosity and the power of scientific thought, paving the way for future explorations of our planet
and beyond.

Examples of Astronomical Phenomena Known to

Astronomers Before the Advent of Telescopes
Before the invention of telescopes, astronomers relied on their naked eyes to observe the sky.
They were able to discover and describe many astronomical phenomena, such as:

The phases of the Moon. The Moon appears to change its shape from a thin crescent to a full
disk and back again in a cycle of about 29 days. This is caused by the relative positions of the
Sun, the Earth, and the Moon, and the reflection of sunlight on the Moon’s surface.
The solar and lunar eclipses. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Sun
and the Earth, and blocks the Sun’s light partially or completely. A lunar eclipse occurs when
the Earth passes between the Sun and the Moon, and casts its shadow on the Moon, making
it appear dark or reddish.

Eclipses happen only when the Sun, the Earth, and the Moon are aligned in a straight line,
which occurs about twice a year. The motion of the planets. The planets are the objects in the sky
that do not belong to any constellation, and move across the sky in different patterns. The Greeks
recognized five planets: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. They noticed that the planets
sometimes moved faster or slower, or even reversed their direction. This phenomenon is called
retrograde motion, and is caused by the different orbital speeds and distances of the planets
from the Sun.

The comets and meteors. Comets are bright objects with long tails that appear in the sky for a
few days or weeks, and then disappear. They are made of ice and dust, and orbit the Sun in
very elongated paths. Meteors are flashes of light that streak across the sky, and are caused
by small pieces of rock or metal that enter the Earth’s atmosphere and burn up.

Kepler’s Planetary Motion

Kepler’s laws of planetary motion are three mathematical rules that describe how the planets
move around the Sun. They were derived by the German astronomer Johannes Kepler, who used
the observations of his predecessor, Tycho Brahe, to formulate his laws. Kepler’s laws are:
The orbit of a planet is an ellipse with the Sun at one of the two foci. An ellipse is a shape that
looks like a flattened circle, and has two points called foci. The Sun is not at the center of the
orbit, but at one of the foci, which means that the planet is closer to the Sun at some points
and farther at others.

A line segment joining a planet and the Sun sweeps out equal areas during equal intervals of
time. This means that the planet moves faster when it is closer to the Sun, and slower when it is
farther away. The area swept by the line segment is proportional to the time elapsed,
regardless of the shape of the orbit. The square of a planet’s orbital period is proportional to
the cube of the length of the semi-major axis of its orbit. The orbital period is the time it takes
for a planet to complete one revolution around the Sun.

The semi-major axis is the longest diameter of the ellipse, and half of it is the average
distance of the planet from the Sun. This law shows that the farther a planet is from the Sun, the
longer its orbital period

Pressure
Pressure is one of the most important concepts in physics. It is defined as the *amount of force per
unit area*. The key point when you’re trying to understand pressure is to think about what happens
on the atomic level in a liquid or gas at high pressure. The constituent molecules are constantly
moving around, and this means they’re bumping into the walls of the container all the time. The
more they move (due to higher temperatures), the more they bump into the walls of the container
and the higher the pressure.

## Pressure Units

The SI unit of pressure is the *Pascal (Pa)*, where 1 Pa = 1 N/m^2^, i.e. one Newton per square
meter. However, the Pascal is quite a small unit for things like atmospheric pressure, so there are
quite a large number of alternatives also in use. One of the simplest ways to do this is to simply
use kPa (i.e. kilopascals, or thousands of pascals), but there are other options too. The most well-
known alternative unit is *pounds per square inch (psi)*, which is used in the U.S. for things like
water pressure. For atmospheric pressure, the appropriately-named unit “atmospheres” (atm) is
often used, because 1 atm corresponds to atmospheric pressure at sea level. The torr is an
alternative unit used for atmospheric pressures, which is defined as 1/760 of an atmosphere, or
133.3 Pa. In meteorology, millibars are often used, where 1 bar = 100,000 Pa and 1 millibar = 100
Pa.

## Pressure Formula

Mathematically, you can define pressure as:

P = F/A

Where *P* is pressure, *F* is the force on the surface and *A* is area.

## Pressure Examples

Here are some examples of pressure in physics:

- *Atmospheric pressure*: The pressure exerted by the Earth's atmosphere at sea level is
approximately 101.3 kPa or 14.7 psi¹.
- *Hydrostatic pressure*: The pressure exerted by a fluid at rest increases with depth. The
pressure at a depth of 10 meters in water is approximately 100 kPa².
- *Blood pressure*: Blood pressure is the pressure of circulating blood on the walls of blood
vessels. Normal blood pressure is around 120/80 mmHg³.