--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Remembering that Eratosthenes of Cyrene…" description: "\"Remembering that Eratosthenes of Cyrene, employing mathematical theories and geometrical methods, discovered from the course of the sun, the shadows ca..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/819/marcus-vitruvius-pollio-7498_casts_remembering-that-eratosthenes-of-cyrene_2022004.png" --- # Remembering that Eratosthenes of Cyrene, employing… ![“Remembering that Eratosthenes of Cyrene, employing mathematical theories and geometrical methods, discovered from the course of the sun, the shadows cast by an equinoctial gnomon, and the inclination of the heaven that the circumference of the earth is two hundred and fifty-two thousand stadia…” quote by Marcus Vitruvius Pollio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/819/marcus-vitruvius-pollio-7498_casts_remembering-that-eratosthenes-of-cyrene_2022004.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/819/marcus-vitruvius-pollio-7498_casts_remembering-that-eratosthenes-of-cyrene_2022004.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/819/marcus-vitruvius-pollio-7498_casts_remembering-that-eratosthenes-of-cyrene_2022004.png) > “Remembering that Eratosthenes of Cyrene, employing mathematical theories and geometrical methods, discovered from the course of the sun, the shadows cast by an equinoctial gnomon, and the inclination of the heaven that the circumference of the earth is two hundred and fifty-two thousand stadia, that is, thirty-one million five hundred thousand paces.” [Marcus Vitruvius Pollio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-vitruvius-pollio/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Eratosthenes measured Earth’s size using shadows and geometry, estimating ~252,000 stadia. **In simple terms:** Measured Earth with shadows, geometry. Key Takeaway Use simple observations for big questions. Themes science measurement geometry history Mood analytical reflective Type historical educational When to use this quote - Education - navigation - space exploration - climate modeling Key Concepts Ancient astronomy mathematics geodesy Questions to Reflect On - How can ancient methods inspire modern science? - What are the limits of simple tools? A Different Perspective Accuracy limited by tools of era. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Casts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/casts/) [Circumference Earth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/circumference-earth-1843467/) [Courses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/courses/) [Earth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earth/) [Employing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/employing/) [Eratosthenes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eratosthenes-952442/) [Eratosthenes Cyrene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eratosthenes-cyrene-3667304/) [Fifty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fifty/) [Five](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/five/) [Heaven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heaven/) [Heaven Circumference](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heaven-circumference-3667306/) [Hundred](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hundred/) [Inclination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inclination/) [Mathematical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mathematical/) [Method](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/method/) [Millions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/millions/) [Pace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pace/) [Remember](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/remember/) [Remembering Eratosthenes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/remembering-eratosthenes-3667302/) [Shadow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shadow/) [Sun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sun/) [Theory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/theory/) [Thirty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thirty/) [Thousand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thousand/) [Two](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/two/) ## Related quotes > [Eratosthenes's only tools were sticks, eyes, feet, and brains; plus a zest for experiment. With those tools he correctly deduced the circumference of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/eratosthenes-s-only-tools-were-sticks-eyes-feet-and-brains-plus-a/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [Some people do indeed say that Eratosthenes could not have inferred the true measure of the earth. Whether true or untrue, it cannot affect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-vitruvius-pollio/some-people-do-indeed-say-that-eratosthenes-could-not-have-inferred/) [Marcus Vitruvius Pollio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-vitruvius-pollio/) > [I walk alone in the darkness and wonder how a person would begin to determine the circumference of the earth. I have no idea.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-sloan/i-walk-alone-in-the-darkness-and-wonder-how-a-person-would-begin-to/) [Robin Sloan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-sloan/) > [“Columbus therefore cheated on his calculations, as the examining faculty of the University of Salamanca quite correctly pointed out. He used the smallest possible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/columbus-therefore-cheated-on-his-calculations-as-the-examining/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [Ten decimal places of π are sufficient to give the circumference of the earth to a fraction of an inch, and thirty decimal places…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-newcomb/ten-decimal-places-of-are-sufficient-to-give-the-circumference-of-the/) [Simon Newcomb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-newcomb/) > [“For the observed difference in the shadow lengths, the distance between Alexandria and Syene had to be about seven degrees along the surface of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/for-the-observed-difference-in-the-shadow-lengths-the-distance/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [ Today Eratosthenes' method \[of calculating the circumference of the earth\] seems almost banal... yet it is inaccessible to prescientific civilizations, and in all of… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucio-russo/today-eratosthenes-method-of-calculating-the-circumference-of-the/) [Lucio Russo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucio-russo/) > [Eratosthenes declares that it is no longer necessary to inquire as to the cause of the overflow of the Nile, since we know definitely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eratosthenes/eratosthenes-declares-that-it-is-no-longer-necessary-to-inquire-as-to/) [Eratosthenes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eratosthenes/) > [Eratosthenes, the mapmaker who was the first man to accurately measure the size of the Earth, was a librarian.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-jennings/eratosthenes-the-mapmaker-who-was-the-first-man-to-accurately-measure/) [Ken Jennings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-jennings/) > [Eratosthenes was the director of the great library of Alexandria, the Centre of science and learning in the ancient world. Aristotle had argued that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/eratosthenes-was-the-director-of-the-great-library-of-alexandria-the/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [I don't know how this company got the name National Shakespeare Company, because it was literally like retards employing retards.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-corddry/i-don-t-know-how-this-company-got-the-name-national-shakespeare/) [Rob Corddry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-corddry/) > [The Postal Service is huge - employing more than a half million people - and its history is long and complicated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-warren/the-postal-service-is-huge-employing-more-than-a-half-million-people/) [Elizabeth Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-warren/) > [ELEGY, n. A composition in verse, in which, without employing any of the methods of humor, the writer aims to produce in the reader's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/elegy-n-a-composition-in-verse-in-which-without-employing-any-of-the/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [Technological society leads to increasing numbers of people who cannot adapt to the inhuman rhythm of modern life with its emphasis on specialization. A…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-ellul/technological-society-leads-to-increasing-numbers-of-people-who/) [Jacques Ellul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-ellul/) > [We endeavour to employ only symmetrical figures, such as should not only be an aid to reasoning, through the sense of sight, but should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-venn/we-endeavour-to-employ-only-symmetrical-figures-such-as-should-not/) [John Venn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-venn/) ## More by Marcus Vitruvius Pollio > [ Leave a cavity behind the \[wall\] facings, and on the inside build walls two feet thick, made of red dimension stone or burnt brick… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-vitruvius-pollio/leave-a-cavity-behind-the-wall-facings-and-on-the-inside-build-walls/) [Marcus Vitruvius Pollio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-vitruvius-pollio/) > [Bricks should be made in Spring or Autumn so that they may dry uniformly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-vitruvius-pollio/bricks-should-be-made-in-spring-or-autumn-so-that-they-may-dry/) [Marcus Vitruvius Pollio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-vitruvius-pollio/) > [It is no secret that the moon has no light of her own, but is, as it were, a mirror, receiving brightness from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-vitruvius-pollio/it-is-no-secret-that-the-moon-has-no-light-of-her-own-but-is-as-it/) [Marcus Vitruvius Pollio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-vitruvius-pollio/) > [Burn shavings and splinters of pitch pine, and when they turn to charcoal, put them out, and pound them into mortar with size. This…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-vitruvius-pollio/burn-shavings-and-splinters-of-pitch-pine-and-when-they-turn-to/) [Marcus Vitruvius Pollio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-vitruvius-pollio/) > [With the ripening of the fruits in Autumn the leaves begin to wither and the trees, taking up their sap from the earth through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-vitruvius-pollio/with-the-ripening-of-the-fruits-in-autumn-the-leaves-begin-to-wither/) [Marcus Vitruvius Pollio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-vitruvius-pollio/) > [Astronomers have a common ground for discussion with musicians in the harmony of the stars and musical concords in tetrads and triads of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-vitruvius-pollio/astronomers-have-a-common-ground-for-discussion-with-musicians-in-the/) [Marcus Vitruvius Pollio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-vitruvius-pollio/) > [The difference between "machines" and "engines" is obviously this, that machines need more workmen and greater power to make them take effect, as for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-vitruvius-pollio/the-difference-between-machines-and-engines-is-obviously-this-that/) [Marcus Vitruvius Pollio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-vitruvius-pollio/) > [ The \[engineer\] should be equipped with knowledge of many branches of study and varied kinds of learning, for it is by his judgement that… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-vitruvius-pollio/the-engineer-should-be-equipped-with-knowledge-of-many-branches-of/) [Marcus Vitruvius Pollio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-vitruvius-pollio/) > [ All these soft kinds \[of stone\] have the advantage that they can be easily worked as soon as they have been taken from the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-vitruvius-pollio/all-these-soft-kinds-of-stone-have-the-advantage-that-they-can-be/) [Marcus Vitruvius Pollio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-vitruvius-pollio/) > [Apollo at Delphi, through the oracular utterance of his priestess, pronounced Socrates the wisest of men. Of him it is related that he said…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-vitruvius-pollio/apollo-at-delphi-through-the-oracular-utterance-of-his-priestess/) [Marcus Vitruvius Pollio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-vitruvius-pollio/) > [Music, also, the architect ought to understand so that he may have knowledge of the canonical and mathematical theory, and besides be able to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-vitruvius-pollio/music-also-the-architect-ought-to-understand-so-that-he-may-have/) [Marcus Vitruvius Pollio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-vitruvius-pollio/) > [Architecture depends on Order, Arrangement, Eurythmy, Symmetry , Propriety , and Economy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-vitruvius-pollio/architecture-depends-on-order-arrangement-eurythmy-symmetry-propriety/) [Marcus Vitruvius Pollio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-vitruvius-pollio/) > [In all matters but particularly in architecture, that which is signified is the subject of which we may be speaking and that which gives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-vitruvius-pollio/in-all-matters-but-particularly-in-architecture-that-which-is/) [Marcus Vitruvius Pollio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-vitruvius-pollio/) > [In felling a tree we should cut into the trunk of it to the very heart, and then leave it standing so that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-vitruvius-pollio/in-felling-a-tree-we-should-cut-into-the-trunk-of-it-to-the-very/) [Marcus Vitruvius Pollio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-vitruvius-pollio/) > [In fact, all kinds of men, and not merely architects, can recognize a good piece of work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-vitruvius-pollio/in-fact-all-kinds-of-men-and-not-merely-architects-can-recognize-a/) [Marcus Vitruvius Pollio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-vitruvius-pollio/) [Explore all 90 Marcus Vitruvius Pollio quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-vitruvius-pollio/) ## More Casts quotes > [Everything comes home, my mother used to say; every word spoken, every shadow cast, every footprint in the sand. It can't be helped; it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanne-harris/everything-comes-home-my-mother-used-to-say-every-word-spoken-every/) [Joanne Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanne-harris/) > [Politics only makes the difficult challenge of marriage even harder, with the demands of the job and the public spotlight it casts on a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-mckinnon/politics-only-makes-the-difficult-challenge-of-marriage-even-harder/) [Mark McKinnon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-mckinnon/) > [I've done so many other projects where you're in a room with a reader and you're acting your lines out: 'We have to get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-cummings/i-ve-done-so-many-other-projects-where-you-re-in-a-room-with-a-reader/) [Jim Cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-cummings/) > [The God in whose hands are all our days and ways, did cast into my hand one day a book of Martin Luthers; it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-bunyan/the-god-in-whose-hands-are-all-our-days-and-ways-did-cast-into-my/) [John Bunyan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-bunyan/) > [I was focused on The Hunger Games movie with my director, with the studio, and with the cast and crew. We all just focused…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-jacobson/i-was-focused-on-the-hunger-games-movie-with-my-director-with-the/) [Nina Jacobson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-jacobson/) > [All my life I've been involved with racial politics. I was a Freedom Rider in the South. I was the author of books on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hayden/all-my-life-i-ve-been-involved-with-racial-politics-i-was-a-freedom/) [Tom Hayden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hayden/) > [God hath work to do in this world; and to desert it because of its difficulties and entanglements, is to cast off His authority.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-owen/god-hath-work-to-do-in-this-world-and-to-desert-it-because-of-its/) [John Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-owen/) > [The bullet that will kill me is not yet cast.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-bonaparte/the-bullet-that-will-kill-me-is-not-yet-cast/) [Napoleon Bonaparte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-bonaparte/) > [All progress in literary style lies in the heroic resolve to cast aside accretions and exuberances, all the conventions of a past age that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/havelock-ellis/all-progress-in-literary-style-lies-in-the-heroic-resolve-to-cast/) [Havelock Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/havelock-ellis/) > [And as regards Adam and Eve we must maintain that before the fall they were virgins in Paradise: but after they sinned, and were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/st-jerome/and-as-regards-adam-and-eve-we-must-maintain-that-before-the-fall/) [St. Jerome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/st-jerome/) > [I think that people who stand up for what they believe in, no matter how unpopular, should be celebrated, not cast aside.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-lancaster/i-think-that-people-who-stand-up-for-what-they-believe-in-no-matter/) [Craig Lancaster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-lancaster/) > [Unless a man gives himself entirely to the Cross, in a spirit of humility and self-abasement; unless he casts himself down to be trampled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-the-evangelist/unless-a-man-gives-himself-entirely-to-the-cross-in-a-spirit-of/) [Mark the Evangelist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-the-evangelist/) > [Now, we are agreed, I and my destinies. The total world, Above, below, whate'er is seen or known, And all that men, and all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hartley-coleridge/now-we-are-agreed-i-and-my-destinies-the-total-world-above-below/) [Hartley Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hartley-coleridge/) > [Sometimes you choose the wrong actor, he could be the best actor ever, but hes not cast in the right part then it doesnt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-marceau/sometimes-you-choose-the-wrong-actor-he-could-be-the-best-actor-ever/) [Sophie Marceau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-marceau/) > [I would always cast Meryl Streep for everything. I would do with something inspired by the work of Guy Bourdin, my favorite photographer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penelope-cruz/i-would-always-cast-meryl-streep-for-everything-i-would-do-with/) [Penelope Cruz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penelope-cruz/) [Browse all 2,106 Casts quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/casts/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Remembering that Eratosthenes of Cyrene, employing mathematical theories and geometrical methods, discovered from the course of the sun, the shadows cast by an equinoctial gnomon, and the inclination of the heaven that the circumference of the earth is two hundred and fifty-two thousand stadia, that is, thirty-one million five hundred thousand paces.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Marcus Vitruvius Pollio" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-vitruvius-pollio/remembering-that-eratosthenes-of-cyrene-employing-mathematical/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Casts" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-vitruvius-pollio/remembering-that-eratosthenes-of-cyrene-employing-mathematical/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/819/marcus-vitruvius-pollio-7498_casts_remembering-that-eratosthenes-of-cyrene_2022004.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/819/marcus-vitruvius-pollio-7498_casts_remembering-that-eratosthenes-of-cyrene_2022004.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/819/marcus-vitruvius-pollio-7498_casts_remembering-that-eratosthenes-of-cyrene_2022004.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Remembering that Eratosthenes of Cyrene, employing mathematical theories and geometrical methods, discovered…” — Marcus Vitruvius Pollio", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Marcus Vitruvius Pollio", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-vitruvius-pollio/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Remembering that Eratosthenes of Cyrene, employing...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-vitruvius-pollio/remembering-that-eratosthenes-of-cyrene-employing-mathematical/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-vitruvius-pollio/remembering-that-eratosthenes-of-cyrene-employing-mathematical/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```