Once upon a time, a long, long time ago, there lived a very smart man named Eratosthenes. He was so clever that people called him the Father of Geography. But why was he called that? Well, Eratosthenes was super interested in the Earth and how everything was placed on it.
Geography is all about studying the Earth, its lands, oceans, mountains, and everything else. And Eratosthenes was the one who started looking at Earth in a special way. He made maps and figured out things about our planet that nobody had known before.
Why Erastosthenes is called the father of Geography
Eratosthenes was from ancient Greece. He was born in a city called Cyrene, which is now part of Libya in Africa. He grew up to become a mathematician, astronomer, and most importantly, a geographer. He studied in Egypt and became the chief librarian at the Library of Alexandria. That was a super important place where lots of smart people came together to share their knowledge.
One day, Eratosthenes heard about a deep well in a town called Syene. People said that at noon on a special day, the sun made no shadow there. Eratosthenes got really curious. He wondered why this happened only in Syene and not in his town, Alexandria.
He decided to do an experiment. On the same special day at noon, he put a stick in the ground in Alexandria. Lo and behold, there was a shadow! Eratosthenes measured the shadow and found out something amazing. The angle of the shadow told him that the sun was directly overhead in Syene but not in Alexandria. This meant that the Earth was round! It was like a ball, not flat like a pancake.
Who is the father of Geography – Erastosthenes
With this discovery, Eratosthenes didn’t stop. He wanted to figure out how big the Earth was. Using math and some smart ideas, he measured the distance between Syene and Alexandria. He found the Earth’s circumference, which is the distance around the Earth. He was so close to the actual size of the Earth, even though he didn’t have fancy tools like we do today.
Eratosthenes also made the first-ever map of the world. He drew lines of longitude and latitude to help people understand places and distances. This was a huge deal! His work laid the foundation for how we make maps today.
Thanks to Eratosthenes, we now know so much about Geography. He was the one who kick-started the study of the Earth and everything on it. His ideas and discoveries about the shape and size of the Earth changed how people thought about our planet.
In the end, Eratosthenes, the Father of Geography, left a legacy that still helps us explore and understand our wonderful world today.
