It’s always been important to understand the world we live in. Given recent Google trends, this has never been more important. You may not believe this but sadly, more and more people today once again think the Earth is flat. In this explanation, Eratosthenes uses facts from his ’Well Theory’ to explain why he believes the world is a sphere. A ‘sphere’ is a round, 3D object like a tennis ball.
Eratosthenes asked his companion to check the shadow in a well in Syene at noon when the sun was directly above the well. They agreed that there shouldn’t be a shadow in the well. They were both correct, there wasn’t a shadow. Eratosthenes’ companion thought that this would bring an end to Eratosthenes’ crazy idea that Earth is a sphere.
At exactly the same time, Eratosthenes was in Alexandria which is much further north from Syene. When he looked in a well, he found a shadow! Eratosthenes then took factual measurements of the shadow in the well.
Once they finished their investigations. Eratosthenes and his companion met up to discuss what was in their well. His companion went first and told him that there where no shadows in his well. Then Eratosthenes went and told his companion that he had found a shadow in his well and had recorded the measurement to prove it.
In conclusion, we need to stop just believing random opinions we read on the internet that haven’t been proven with scientific facts and theories.
The image above shows the light rays at 12 noon wells in Alexandria and Syene.
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