THE EARTH IS

SPHERICAL
THE GREEK PERSPECTIVES
 ESSENTIAL QUESTION:

HOW DID THE

GREEKS KNOWN
THAT THE EARTH IS
SPHERICAL?
PHYTHAG PYTHAGORAS OF SAMOS WAS AN
ANCIENT IONIAN GREEK

ORAS PHILOSOPHER, POLYMATH AND

THE EPONYMOUS FOUNDER OF
PYTHAGOREANISM
570-490 B.C.
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.
 GREEK PHILOSOPHER OF NATURE
ANAXAGORAS REMEMBERED FOR HIS
COSMOLOGY AND FOR HIS
500-428 B.C. DISCOVERY OF THE TRUE CAUSE
OF ECLIPSES.

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.
ARISTOTL ARISTOTLE WAS AN ANCIENT GREEK
PHILOSOPHER AND POLYMATH. HIS WRITINGS
COVER A BROAD RANGE OF SUBJECTS

E SPANNING THE NATURAL SCIENCES,

PHILOSOPHY, LINGUISTICS, ECONOMICS,
POLITICS, PSYCHOLOGY AND THE ARTS.

340 B. C. 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.
THE NORTH STAR
 The North Star was
believed to be at a fixed
position in the sky.
However, when the Greeks
traveled to places nearer the
equator, like Egypt, they
noticed that the North Star
is closer to the horizon.
THE SHAPE OF THE SUN AND
THE MOON
 Aristotle argued
that if the Moon
and the Sun were
both spherical, then
perhaps, the Earth
was also spherical.
DISAPPEARING
SHIPS
 If the Earth was flat, then a
ship traveling away from an
observer should become
smaller and smaller until it
disappeared. However, the
Greeks observed that the ship
became smaller and then its
hull disappeared first before
the sail as if it was being
enveloped by the water until
it completely disappeared.
THE SIZE OF THE SPHERICAL
EARTH
 Ancient scholars tried to provide
proof of a spherical Earth and its
circumference through calculations. It
was Eratosthenes who gave the most
accurate size during their time. While
he was working at the Library of
Alexandria in Northern Egypt, he
received correspondence from Syene
in Southern Egypt which stated that a
vertical object did not cast any
shadow at noontime during the
summer solstice.
THE SPHERICAL EARTH
 But this was not the case in
Alexandria where, at noon
time during the summer
solstice, a vertical object still
casts a shadow. These
observations could only
mean that the Sun, during
this time in Alexandria, was
not directly overhead.
THE SHADOW CASTED BY
THE SUN
 Eratosthenes then determined the
angle the Sun made with the
vertical direction by measuring
the shadow that a vertical stick
cast. He found out that in
Alexandria, the Sun makes an
angle of 7.2° from the vertical
while 0° in Syene. To explain the
difference, he hypothesized that
the light rays coming from the
sun are parallel, and the Earth is
curved.
KEY POINTS
 The following observations led the Greeks to conclude that the Earth is sphere:
 The Earth casts a circular shadow on the Moon during a lunar eclipse.
 The North Star has different positions depending on the location of the
observer.
 The Moon and the Sun are both spherical.
 A sailing ship becomes smaller and then its hull disappears first before the sail
as if it is being enveloped by the water until it completely disappears.
 The angle of the Sun with the vertical direction at noon time during a summer
solstice varies from place to place.
POST QUIZ
1. Which of the following is the shape of the Earth
according to ancient Greeks?
A. cylinder
B. octagon
C. flat disc
D. sphere
2. What is the shape of the Earth as described by
modern astronomy?
A. ellipsoid
B. hyperboloid
C. oblate spheroid
D. oblate paraboloid
3. Which of the following ancient Greek
philosophers computed for the circumference of the
Earth?
A. Anaxagoras
B. Pythagoras
C. Eratosthenes
D. Aristotle
4. According to Erastothenes’ computations what is
the circumference of the Earth?
A. 250 000 stadia
B. 500 stadia
C. 7.2 stadia
D. 40 000 stadia
5. In which of the following is 250 000 stadia equal
to?
A. 40 000 kilometers
B. 40 000 meters
C. 40 000 miles
D. 40 000 inches
6. In which of the following events can the circular
shadow of the Earth be observed most notably?
A. solar eclipse
B. lunar eclipse
C. summer solstice
D. winter solstice
 7. Which of the following describes the position of the
North Star if you go farther away from the equator?
 A. closer to the horizon
 B. farther away from the horizon
 C. The North Star is fixed wherever you are on the
Earth.
 D. It disappears completely.
 8. Which of the following can be observed of a cruising
ship if the Earth is a flat disc?
 A. It will shrink then only the sail will be visible until it
completely disappears.
 B. It will become bigger and bigger.
 C. It will not change its size.
 D. It will become smaller and smaller until it disappears.
9. During which time did Eratosthenes observe the
shadows cast by a vertical stick?
A. noon time in summer solstice
B. noon time in winter solstice
C. during a lunar eclipse
D. during a solar eclipse
 10. According to Eratosthenes, which of the following explain why a
vertical stick casts a shadow in Alexandria but not in Syene?
 I. The Sun is directly overhead in Syene while in Alexandria, it is only
almost directly overhead.
 II. The light rays coming from the sun are parallel, and the Earth is curved.
 III. The light rays coming from the sun are curved, and the Earth is flat.
 IV. The Sun is directly overhead in Alexandria while in Syene, it is only
almost directly overhead.
 A. I only
 B. I and II
 C. III and IV
 D. II and IV