And, if the calculation of sun height using these figures is so questionable, is the size of the earth any more reliable?
The article I link describes the method used. It shows that the classic experiments which are often used to show that Round Earth has been "proven" can be reinterpreted on a flat one.
But relying on the Ancient Greeks makes the entire matter, of course, unreliable. For one thing this experiment was conducted before the invention of mechanical clocks, so how did Eratosthenes know what the sun was doing simultaneously at the same point in time between two 500-distant mile locations? The standard narrative that he could have computed any Round Earth figures is questionable at best.
You claim that "It shows that the classic experiments which are often used to show that Round Earth has been "proven" can be reinterpreted on a flat one."
The section in the Wiki says:
Erathostenes on Diameter
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Syene and Alexandria are two North-South points with a distance of 500 nautical miles. Eratosthenes discovered through the shadow experiment that while the sun was exactly overhead of one city, it was 7°12' south of zenith at the other city.
But even in that post I showed that if you calculate the sun's height for those figures you get
3,959 Nm or 4,556 statute miles!If you ignore the values in "the Wiki" and use these more accurate for the angle and distances you get a latitude difference and 7.11° and the distance between them is 524 statute miles,
making the sun's height 4201 statute miles.BUT, "the Wiki"
claims that the sun's height is 3,000 miles (presumably based on Voliva's estimate).
And in this post:
Re: Astronomy debunk: The sun is clearly moving away
« Reply #36 on: August 04, 2016, 06:52:12 AM » That shows, depending on the latitude used in the "Voliva method", the calculation of sun's height varies greatly.
Latitude | Ground Distance | Sun Elev | Sun Height |
30.0° | 2,071 miles | 60.0° | 3,587 miles |
45.0° | 3,107 miles | 45.0° | 3,107 miles |
60.0° | 4,142 miles | 30.0° | 2,392 miles |
75.0° | 5,178 miles | 15.0° | 1,387 miles |
Just face it. The height you get for the sun using the "Voliva method" depends entirely on how your long your baseline is!
So, just how high is your sun, 4,556, 4,201, 3,587, 3,107, 2,392 or 1,387 miles? take your pick!
Just note that the distances and angles used here are
quite consistent with those given in your Wiki and with those you might get from Google maps or Google Earth.
BUT, if you apply the same figures to the globe, you do get quite consistent results for a far distant sun, actually an infinite distance if we use precisely the values taken from the Wiki!