[NTG-context] OT world history: other measuring systems?

[Hans Hagen]

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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