How did ancient people know that the earth was round?
In: 37
Science, specifically Observing, theorizing and testing.
Most others covered observation, so I’m skipping ahead. Ancient people observed other celestial bodies and realized they may be similar to the Earth under their feet.
So now we assume earth is round, how do we verify this? You test it! This is the easier step, we simply coordinate two people on the same day run the same experiment at different locations.
The specific test was measuring shadows at the same time. The fixed items were time of day, altitude, sticks and longitude. Latitude was the variable. So two people made measurements at two cities and used shadows to triangulate the sun and their two locations. The math showed the person further north was further from the sun, therefore you can conclude the Earth is not flat.
Additionally, if the Earth was flat, we wouldn’t have a day-night cycle. Look at flat earthers model of a disc and a sun spinning circles above. On the same plane, they say half the surface is day and half is night. How does sunlight just stop and not shine on half the planet? Hold a plate under a light bulb and try to make half lit and half shaded on the same face. Impossible.
Latest Answers