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Eratosthenes had come pretty close to the correct answer, based on the tools and geographic knowledge available to him. There were mistakes: the earth is not a perfect sphere; Syene is not exactly on the tropic of Cancer (it is 60 kilometres north) and is not on the same meridian (it is 3 degrees 3 minutes east). However, Eratosthenes had established some of the elementary rules in cartography and, for many mapmakers that would follow, the importance of astronomy in calculating your bearings on earth.
During his lifetime, Eratosthenes’ researches covered many fields – his colleagues nicknamed him ‘Beta’ because he covered so much that he always came second (Beta is the second letter of the Greek alphabet). Perhaps there was a hint of jealousy on their part. Other admirers called him Pentathlos after the Olympian athletes who were all-rounders and capable competitors.
In old age, Eratosthenes contracted ophthalmia and became blind, leaving him no longer able to read the scrolls in the Great Library or to observe nature and the heavens. Frustrated, he chose to starve himself to death, dying in 194 BCE aged 82, probably in his beloved library.
* The Greek Heliocentric Theory.
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