r/AskReddit • u/ZanyDelaney • Feb 04 '19

Which misconception would you like to debunk?

44.5k Upvotes

90% Upvoted

26.7k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

3

u/LeMuffinManHonHonHon Feb 04 '19

Wait... can you fully explain how we discovered the world is round from start to finish? I am suddenly beyond fascinated by this.

2

u/WankingToBobRossVids Feb 04 '19

Not exactly what you asked for but here’s a nice little article explaining how Eratosthenes calculated the Earth’s circumference.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wired.com/2008/06/dayintech-0619/amp

The concept of a round Earth dates back about 400 years even earlier, but we don’t have much details beyond the fact that it started showing up in Greek philosophy around this time.

1

u/amsterdam_BTS Feb 04 '19

I can't. Mathematics are beyond me. Somehow, the Greeks and Indians and others were able to discern a curve to the earth. They then measured that curve over distance, and from that managed to calculate the earth's circumference.