Who proved the theory that earth is round and not flat?

Answer 1

The ancient greeks knew the earth was round. They knew it because they watched ships sail off. Someone with good eyes could see that the ship was going over the horizon, the bottom of the ship dissappeared first. Also, they knew that an eclipse of the moon showed the shadow of the earth on the moon. Erastothenes calculated the diameter of the earth in about 200 bc. He was accurate to about 3%.

Answer 2

I can't remember the guys name, but it was an ancient great mathametician (It might have been Pythagerus). He lived at various times in both Greece and Egypt and noticed that at noon on the solstice, the shadow cast in the bottom of a well in Egypt was at a slightly different angle than a well in Greece. He determined that the surface of the earth must be curved to point in a different direction in Greece than in Egypt. Based on the difference in the angle and the approximate distance between Greece and Egypt he was able to calculate the circumference of the Earth with pretty good accuracy. Much better than Columbus's calculations.

He proved it with math. I guess you could say physical proof didn't come until Magellan actually sailed around the world, or when the Russians sent a satellite into space and took a picture.

Answer 3

Well, that's hard to say, some people knew that the earth was round, then again, some "knew" it was flat. I'd have to say that Magellan proved it, but i have a feeling someone else did before him, someone less popular, and not on a grand mission. The odd thing is, there's still a select group of people that still believe the earth is flat.

Answer 4

Talamascca is right! Magellan discovered that the earth is round. He sailed to the east with a certain number of ships in search of the Spice Island (spices were valuable during his time).. but he got killed in the Philippines by the natives when he tried to conquer one of the islands there.. One of his Ship called the Victoria was the only ship that was left and sailed continously to the east and was able to get back to portugal with the remaining living portugese .. hehe :) because of this they have concluded that the earth is round.

It was only a theory by scientist before Magellan's expedition proved it.

FYI: magellan is spanish... he did the expedition for the King of Portugal :)

Answer 5

Who took the first picture of earth from away from the earth? Was it NASA or the USSR who took the first full earth photo? I really am not sure but that's your answer as to who *proved* it.

And, anyway, the earth is kind of both round and flat. Extra round and bulging at the equator and a little flattened out at the poles due to its spin.

Answer 6

That was only a theory, but has since been proven to be wrong. The earth is flat. Just go outside and look. It's flat.

Answer 7

In short, a lot of people have.

There are explorers who decided to travel.

There were also mathematicians who estimated the size of the earth. Think Eratosthenes and the well.


Many cultures figured this out because of the stars, as well as the curvature of the horizen.

Interestingly, with the advent of ideas like non-euclidean geometry, scientists are wondering about space again.

Try searching things like "hyperbolic space."

Answer 8

Aristotle provided some evidence. The first conclusive data, which also provided an approximate circumference for the earth, was provided by Erosthenes. You can look at the description on Wikipedia or many other web sites for a description and diagrams of his measurement.

Answer 9

Columbus believed that the earth was round because of a Bible verse in Isaiah. But, I think Galileo proved it.

Answer 10

Nobody yet. It is still being debated by the flat-earthers and the square terrans who disagree. ( square terrans think it is both flat and sauare.) The problem with flat-earthers is everytime they try to prove their theory they fall off and are never heard from again.
The square terrans get stuck in the corners and cannot get out.
The "spherists" as they are called think the earth is egg shaped and three -dimensional. this is old pagan religion stuuf. they also think the earth is over 6000 years old. poor demented fools.