Eratosthenes | Biography, Discoveries, Sieve, & Facts (2024)

Greek scientist

verifiedCite

While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies.Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.

Select Citation Style

Feedback

Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

External Websites

Britannica Websites

Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.

  • Eratosthenes - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)

Print

verifiedCite

While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies.Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.

Select Citation Style

Feedback

Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

Also known as: Eratosthenes of Cyrene

Written and fact-checked by

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Article History

Eratosthenes' method of measuring Earth's circumference

See all media

In full:
Eratosthenes of Cyrene
Born:
c. 276 bce, Cyrene, Libya
Died:
c. 194 bce, Alexandria, Egypt
Subjects Of Study:
Earth
circumference
sieve of Eratosthenes

See all related content →

Top Questions

What were Eratosthenes’ major achievements?

In addition to calculating Earth’s circumference, Eratosthenes created the Sieve of Eratosthenes (a procedure for finding prime numbers), tried to fix the dates of literary and political events since the siege of Troy, and is thought to have created the armillary sphere (an early astronomical device for representing the great circles of the heavens).

What is Eratosthenes famous for?

Eratosthenes measured Earth’s circumference mathematically using two surface points to make the calculation. He noted that the Sun’s rays fell vertically at noon in Syene (now Aswān), Egypt, at the summer solstice. In Alexandria, also in Egypt, at the same date and time, sunlight fell at an angle of about 7.2° from the vertical.

How did Eratosthenes die?

Eratosthenes died in his 80s in Alexandria, Egypt. He had become blind in his old age and could no longer work by 195 BCE.He reportedly fell into despair, and he is said to have committed suicide by voluntary starvation in 194 as a result.

Eratosthenes (born c. 276 bce, Cyrene, Libya—died c. 194 bce, Alexandria, Egypt) was a Greek scientific writer, astronomer, and poet, who made the first measurement of the size of Earth for which any details are known.

At Syene (now Aswān), some 800 km (500 miles) southeast of Alexandria in Egypt, the Sun’s rays fall vertically at noon at the summer solstice. Eratosthenes noted that at Alexandria, at the same date and time, sunlight fell at an angle of about 7.2° from the vertical. (Writing before the Greeks adopted the degree, a Babylonian unit of measure, he actually said “a fiftieth of a circle.”) He correctly assumed the Sun’s distance to be very great; its rays therefore are practically parallel when they reach Earth. Given an estimate of the distance between the two cities, he was able to calculate the circumference of Earth, obtaining 250,000 stadia. Earlier estimates of the circumference of Earth had been made (for example, Aristotle says that “some mathematicians” had obtained a value of 400,000 stadia), but no details of their methods have survived. An account of Eratosthenes’ method is preserved in the Greek astronomer Cleomedes’ Meteora. The exact length of the units (stadia) he used is doubtful, and the accuracy of his result is therefore uncertain. His measurement of Earth’s circumference may have varied by 0.5 to 17 percent from the value accepted by modern astronomers, but it was certainly in the right range. He also measured the degree of obliquity of the ecliptic (in effect, the tilt of Earth’s axis) and wrote a treatise on the octaëteris, an eight-year lunar-solar cycle. He is credited with devising an algorithm for finding prime numbers called the sieve of Eratosthenes, in which one arranges the natural numbers in numerical order and strikes out one, every second number following two, every third number following three, and so on, which just leaves the prime numbers.

Britannica QuizFaces of Science

Eratosthenes’ only surviving work is Catasterisms, a book about the constellations, which gives a description and story for each constellation, as well as a count of the number of stars contained in it, but the attribution of this work has been doubted by some scholars. His mathematical work is known principally from the writings of the Greek geometer Pappus of Alexandria, and his geographical work from the first two books of the Geography of the Greek geographer Strabo.

After study in Alexandria and Athens, Eratosthenes settled in Alexandria about 255 bce and became director of the great library there. He tried to fix the dates of literary and political events since the siege of Troy. His writings included a poem inspired by astronomy, as well as works on the theatre and on ethics. Eratosthenes was afflicted by blindness in his old age, and he is said to have committed suicide by voluntary starvation.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia BritannicaThis article was most recently revised and updated by Encyclopaedia Britannica.

Eratosthenes | Biography, Discoveries, Sieve, & Facts (2024)

FAQs

Eratosthenes | Biography, Discoveries, Sieve, & Facts? ›

In addition to calculating Earth's circumference, Eratosthenes created the Sieve of Eratosthenes (a procedure for finding prime numbers), tried to fix the dates of literary and political events since the siege of Troy, and is thought to have created the armillary sphere (an early astronomical device for representing ...

What discoveries did Eratosthenes determine? ›

Eratosthenes was also the first to calculate the tilt of the Earth's axis, which he figured with remarkable accuracy; the finding was reported by Ptolemy (85-165 CE). Eratosthenes also calculated the distance from the Earth to the Moon and to the Sun, but with less accuracy. He made a catalog of 675 stars.

What is the Sieve of Eratosthenes history? ›

The 3rd-century bc Greek scientist Eratosthenes of Cyrene developed a systematic procedure for finding prime numbers that is known as the sieve of Eratosthenes. Prime numbers are not divisible by an integer greater than 1, except themselves. The procedure results in all the natural numbers (1, 2, 3…)

What is the Sieve of Eratosthenes research? ›

The Sieve of Eratosthenes is a powerful concept that can be used to find many prime numbers with relative speed and ease. It works on a simple principle: Any multiple of a prime number cannot be a prime number. For example, since 3 is prime, 6, 9, 12, 15, and all other multiples of 3 cannot be prime numbers.

What is the Sieve of Eratosthenes in Greek? ›

In mathematics, the sieve of Eratosthenes (Greek: κόσκινον Ἐρατοσθένους), one of a number of prime number sieves, is a simple, ancient algorithm for finding all prime numbers up to any given limit.

What are some interesting facts about Eratosthenes? ›

Eratosthenes was an ancient Greek mathematician, geographer, and astronomer. He existed from 276 B.C. until 194 B.C. and is most notable for having the first accurate calculation of the Earth's circumference. He lived and worked in the Egyptian city of Alexandria for much of his life.

Who invented the sieve? ›

CE book which attributes it to Eratosthenes of Cyrene, a 3rd cent. BCE Greek mathematician, though describing the sieving by odd numbers instead of by primes.

Is Sieve of Eratosthenes faster? ›

However, for the simple implementations of the Sieve of Eratosthenes using a vector<bool> is faster. You are limited by how fast you can load the data into the cache, and therefore using less memory gives a big advantage.

What does the Sieve of Eratosthenes drain? ›

The Sieve of Eratosthenes drains out composite numbers and leaves prime numbers behind. Make a list of all the integers less than or equal to n (and greater than one). Strike out the multiples of all primes less than or equal to the square root of n. Then the numbers that are left are the primes.

What is the Sieve of Eratosthenes and basics of counting? ›

The Sieve of Eratosthenes is an algorithm used to find all prime numbers less than a number. The way it works is that, starting from 2, it creates a list of all integers from there until n. Then, starting with 2 (which is the smallest prime), every multiple of 2 is marked as not a prime.

What is the Sieve of Eratosthenes task? ›

The Sieve of Eratosthenes is a very simple and popular technique for finding all the prime numbers in the range from 2 to a given number n. The algorithm takes its name from the process of sieving—in a simple way we remove multiples of consecutive numbers. Initially, we have the set of all the numbers {2,3,...,n}.

How did Eratosthenes measure the Earth? ›

Eratosthenes method was very simple; he measured the length of a shadow from a vertical stick of a known height in two cities on the same day. The ratio between the north-south distance between the two cities and the angles measured gave a ratio which allowed Eratosthenes to calculate the size of the Earth.

What is the Sieve of Eratosthenes scheme? ›

The Sieve of Eratosthenes is one way to find prime numbers. It works by systematically eliminating non-prime numbers. This excellent resource has been designed to help pupils to use the Sieve of Eratosthenes to find the prime numbers less than 100.

What is a short history about Eratosthenes? ›

Eratosthenes (born c. 276 bce, Cyrene, Libya—died c. 194 bce, Alexandria, Egypt) was a Greek scientific writer, astronomer, and poet, who made the first measurement of the size of Earth for which any details are known.

Who first measured the Earth? ›

This illustration shows how Eratosthenes actually calculated the circumference of the Earth. At noon on the summer solstice, Eratosthenes measured the length of the shadow cast by a column of known height at Alexandria.

Why is 1 not prime? ›

For a number to be called as a prime number, it must have only two positive factors. Now, for 1, the number of positive divisors or factors is only one i.e. 1 itself. So, number one is not a prime number. Note: 2 is the smallest number that satisfies the definition of prime numbers.

What did Eratosthenes accurately measure? ›

The Earth's circumference was first accurately measured more than 2,200 years ago by a Greek astronomer named Eratosthenes. Eratosthenes method was very simple; he measured the length of a shadow from a vertical stick of a known height in two cities on the same day.

How did Eratosthenes define geography? ›

While serving as the head librarian and scholar at the Library of Alexandria, Eratosthenes wrote a comprehensive treatise about the world, which he called "Geography." This was the first use of the word, which in Greek means "writing about the world." Eratosthenes' work introduced the concepts of torrid, temperate, and ...

Who first determined the circumference of the Earth? ›

Earth's circumference was first accurately measured more than 2,000 years ago by the Greek astronomer Eratosthenes, who at the time lived in the Egyptian city of Alexandria.

Where did Eratosthenes perform his experiment? ›

On that day, the sun at noon was directly overhead at Aswan. On the same day, Eratosthenes measured the shadow of the a stick at noon in Alexandria. The length of that shadow was not zero because the sun was not directly overhead in Alexandria.

References

Top Articles
A Week of Easy Dutch Oven Recipes • Binkies and Briefcases
Moosewood Hungarian Mushroom Soup Recipe
Lakers Game Summary
Stretchmark Camouflage Highland Park
Tabc On The Fly Final Exam Answers
THE 10 BEST Women's Retreats in Germany for September 2024
Us 25 Yard Sale Map
CKS is only available in the UK | NICE
About Goodwill – Goodwill NY/NJ
Best Restaurants In Seaside Heights Nj
Bbc 5Live Schedule
Caroline Cps.powerschool.com
Winterset Rants And Raves
Housework 2 Jab
5 high school volleyball stars of the week: Sept. 17 edition
Procore Championship 2024 - PGA TOUR Golf Leaderboard | ESPN
Aldi Sign In Careers
1-833-955-4522
Watch The Lovely Bones Online Free 123Movies
Alfie Liebel
The Blind Showtimes Near Amc Merchants Crossing 16
Kingdom Tattoo Ithaca Mi
Hdmovie2 Sbs
Kroger Feed Login
Blackboard Login Pjc
Royalfh Obituaries Home
Penn State Service Management
Weather Underground Durham
Armor Crushing Weapon Crossword Clue
Rlcraft Toolbelt
Clearvue Eye Care Nyc
Salons Open Near Me Today
15 Downer Way, Crosswicks, NJ 08515 - MLS NJBL2072416 - Coldwell Banker
Workboy Kennel
Lowell Car Accident Lawyer Kiley Law Group
Poster & 1600 Autocollants créatifs | Activité facile et ludique | Poppik Stickers
Haley Gifts :: Stardew Valley
Vitals, jeden Tag besser | Vitals Nahrungsergänzungsmittel
Strange World Showtimes Near Atlas Cinemas Great Lakes Stadium 16
Appraisalport Com Dashboard /# Orders
The 38 Best Restaurants in Montreal
Craigslist List Albuquerque: Your Ultimate Guide to Buying, Selling, and Finding Everything - First Republic Craigslist
Felix Mallard Lpsg
Paperless Employee/Kiewit Pay Statements
Craigs List Palm Springs
Best Restaurants Minocqua
Craigslist Odessa Midland Texas
Sofia With An F Mugshot
Pike County Buy Sale And Trade
Ferhnvi
Port Huron Newspaper
Sams Gas Price San Angelo
Latest Posts
Article information

Author: Kerri Lueilwitz

Last Updated:

Views: 5843

Rating: 4.7 / 5 (67 voted)

Reviews: 82% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Kerri Lueilwitz

Birthday: 1992-10-31

Address: Suite 878 3699 Chantelle Roads, Colebury, NC 68599

Phone: +6111989609516

Job: Chief Farming Manager

Hobby: Mycology, Stone skipping, Dowsing, Whittling, Taxidermy, Sand art, Roller skating

Introduction: My name is Kerri Lueilwitz, I am a courageous, gentle, quaint, thankful, outstanding, brave, vast person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.