2007-07-21 11:51:42 · 8 answers · asked by msvida86 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Earth Sciences & Geology
Those aren't theories...they are ignorant musings by people who don't know any better. The world is indeed round. Next time you fly in a plane or stand on a beach, look at the horizon...it is curved.
2007-07-21 11:58:46 · answer #1 · answered by jibba.jabba 5 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Eratosthenes of Alexandria proved (in the 6th century BC) that the Earth was round with a simple experiment.
He noticed that in his home city of Alexandria, a vertical stick cast no shadow at mid-day on the longest day of the year. He performed the same experiment in the city of Syene, which was several hundred miles to the south.
It turns out that when it's mid-day on the longest day of the year in Alexandria, the vertical stick in Syene does cast a shadow. In fact, the angle of the shadow was about 7 degrees. The only possible explanation is that the surface of the Earth is curved.
Eratosthenes had hired a man to pace out the distance from Alexandria to Syene, so he know the arc length and the angle. He then used this to estimate the circumference of the Earth. He was accurate to within a few percent. All this in the 6th century BC!
2007-07-21 19:10:31 · answer #2 · answered by lithiumdeuteride 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
msvida,
Yes, the earth is indeed round. Centuries ago when sailors explored uncharted areas of earth, their were many theories about what shape the earth was. But this was before modern equipment, and nowadays the earth being round is not just a theory... it's an observation. Images of the earth from space, as well as many other kinds of measurements, prove that it is round.
2007-07-21 19:54:23 · answer #3 · answered by mnrlboy 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Actually, the earth is not a sphere..it is an oblate spheroid, and the specific shape the earth takes is called a geoid. But, for all intents and purposes, including navigation, it can be thought of as a sphere. I guess a sphere is an object that is round in all directions, so in that way it is round.
2007-07-21 19:52:46 · answer #4 · answered by David A 5 · 3⤊ 0⤋
actualy the earth is slightly fig or pear shaped. with what is called the southern hemisphere, being slightly larger than the northern hemisphere. but for all practicial purposes, it would not be detectable by the average human eye, even in orbit around the earth. so no, it is not a perfect sphere.
2007-07-22 00:14:11 · answer #5 · answered by yehoshooa adam 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The earth is not a perfect sphere. It's kind of squashed down so that is wider than it is tall. I also read somewhere that it is egg shaped?
2007-07-21 20:28:51 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
have you left the house lately?
2007-07-21 21:15:36 · answer #7 · answered by HitMan Harry 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images/view?back=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.search.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%2Fimages%3Fp%3Dearth%26fr%3Dyfp-t-453%26toggle%3D1%26cop%3Dmss%26ei%3DUTF-8&w=640&h=480&imgurl=www.glendale.cc.ca.us%2Fgeo%2Fimages%2Fearth.jpg&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.glendale.cc.ca.us%2Fgeo%2Fimages%3FM%3DA&size=70.4kB&name=earth.jpg&p=earth&type=jpeg&no=4&tt=3,936,726&oid=120c7dc741a891c2&ei=UTF-8
2007-07-21 18:58:50 · answer #8 · answered by brekkal 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋