On 1/26/2022 10:23 AM, Jean-Pierre Delange via ntg-context wrote:
In line with what Otared writes about the measurement of distances in
the context of Persia and ancient Rome, I am always very surprised to
see the precision of the measurements in the evaluation of the
circumference of the earth by Eratosthenes of Cyrene. What intrigues me
is not really the geometry calculations involved, but the calculation of
the distance between Aswan and Alexandria. There is little information
on the taking of this measurement: is it Egyptian surveyors (bematists:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bematist) or the use of an instrument
equivalent to a pedometer? see here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eratosthenes
Eratosthenes of Cyrene was a Greek polymath ...
Ah ... that makes a great subtitle for Mikaels upcoming math manual: "A
manual for polymathematicians"
A polymath (Greek: πολυμαθής, polymathēs, "having learned much";
and then we can talk 'polymathematical typesetting' and such (I'm sure
that Arthur can come up with a reflective historical tex-talk.)
Hans
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