Eratosthenes

The ancient Greeks contributed much to modern astronomy, inventing and utilizing the scientific method to study and chart the heavens through experiments, careful observation and meticulous records of their findings. However, they were not only good at the observational aspect of astronomy, but also the theoretical aspect as well, speculating about the Universe's size, structure and nature, and about everything that the Universe encompassed. Indeed, the Greeks were masters of this art, and their…

depicted as a centaur holding a bow and arrow. Sagittarius can be found in the southern sky. Sagittarius was first cataloged by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy in the 2nd century. Eratosthenes equated Sagittarius to Crotus, which is a mythical creature with two feet and a satyr's tail and the nurse to the nine muses. Eratosthenes thought this was more of a satyr rather than a centaur. However, according to the Roman author Hyginus, Crotus was the son of Pan and was the…

Ancient Greece and Rome has a major impact on how society goes about its everyday lives without realization. Ancient Greece has had a lot of impact on how people view the world. The most important impacts on our society today was the discoveries in philosophy. Socrates is a well known philosopher back in ancient Greece that believed that patient examination was a way to help others seek truth and self-knowledge. This was called the Socratic Method. His way of thinking influenced how we think…

Lani Saunders October 6, 2017 AST 123 Homework #1 1. Thales, Anaximander, and Anaximenes all originated in the Greek colony Miletus. Their intellectual thinking could have been contributed to the education they had. Miletus was a very wealthy city at the time. They people living there didn’t have to worry about money for food or housing so they could spend it on getting a good education, which was rather rare at the time. Other Greek colonies didn’t have enough money to build good education…

The Renaissance had a thoughtful impact upon some parts of western civilization but maintained stability in major aspects of life and society. The Renaissance produced important changes in all areas of European society and knowledge. The main focus of Renaissance study is often art; in which there was intense change in the method and style. Renewing classical skill in representing the human form, Renaissance art was more lively and realistic than its predecessors of the Middle Ages as showed…

When were roman numerals discovered you may ask? The history of Roman numerals has been questionable for many years. What is clear is that numerals were used by the ancient Etruscans an interesting aspect of the Etruscan numeral system is that some numbers are represented as partial subtractions. The Etruscan numeric system was adapted from the Greek Attic numerals providing ideas for the later Roman numerals. The Roman numeral system is probably very simple rather than the Etruscan system. The…

Primes – the building blocks of all numbers: The dictionary meaning of prime is ‘Of first importance’ or ‘Of the best quality, excellent’ etc. What is so great about prime numbers? A number is said to be a prime if it is divisible only by 1 and itself. 5, for example, is a prime number because it is divisible only by 1 and 5. The number 4 can be divided by 1, 4 AND 2. So it is not a prime number. Numbers that are not primes are said to be composite numbers. The fundamental theorem of Arithmetic…

proved Pythagoras correct, Greek astronomers were able to calculate new distances and answers, helping them move forward. For instance, Aristarchus was able to fairly accurately estimate the size of the moon, relative to the Earth’s size. Also, Eratosthenes was capable of calculating the Earth’s circumference, and he was within fifteen percent of the exact distance. In addition to math and astronomy, Pythagoreans specialized in music. They viewed it as a part of their religious life, so it was…

moon in which they said that the moon appeared to have a sphere-like shape. Afterward, some time later, Greek philosopher Aristotle observed the shadow of the moon during a lunar eclipse and realized that it was curved. In the 3rd century BCE, Eratosthenes observed the ancient city of Syene during the summer solstice at noon and noticed that the sun was directly overhead. He knew that during the summer solstice in Alexandria, Egypt, a tall tower would act as a shadow in the city. So, he took…

stage where practical use of mathematics is important. Montessori students for the age of six, enjoy learning how maths can fits in the grand scheme of the cosmic education. This includes studying ancient mathematicians such as Pythagoras, Euclid, Eratosthenes and…