Did Aristotle find out the earth was round?

Answer 1

Pythagoras

Pythagoras (6th century BC) was among those said to have originated the idea

Herodotus

In The Histories, written 431-425 BC, Herodotus dismisses a report of the sun observed shining from the north. This arises when discussing the circumnavigation of Africa undertaken by Phoenicians under Necho II c. 610-595 BC. (The Histories, 4.43) His dismissive comment attests to a widespread ignorance of the ecliptic's inverted declination in a Southern Hemisphere.

Plato

Plato (427-347 BC) travelled to southern Italy to study Pythagorean mathematics. When he returned to Athens and established his school, Plato also taught his students that Earth was a sphere though he offered no justifications.

Aristotle

Aristotle (384-322 BC) was Plato's prize student and "the mind of the school." Aristotle observed "there are stars seen in Egypt and [...] Cyprus which are not seen in the northerly regions." Since this could only happen on a curved surface, he too believed Earth was a sphere "of no great size, for otherwise the effect of so slight a change of place would not be quickly apparent." (De caelo, 298a2-10)

Aristotle provided physical and observational arguments supporting the idea of a spherical Earth:

• Every portion of the Earth tends toward the center until by compression and convergence they form a sphere. (De caelo, 297a9-21)
• Travelers going south see southern constellations rise higher above the horizon; and
• The shadow of Earth on the Moon during a lunar eclipse is round. (De caelo, 297b31-298a10)

Answer 2

The first man to give that theory was Galileo. Later on, Christopher Colomb brought the idea again. This time, a large number of people believed it. But until the 18th century at least I would say, I think some people didn't accept that idea.

Answer 3

Possibly early thinkers such as Ptolemy would have considered the axial tilt as a cause of the then known Analemma of the Sun's passage.

That does however need the consideration of a Helio-centric model of the Sun and its planets.

Which brings us to Copernicus, in the 1500s. Who proposed such a model, to the chagrin of The Authorities.

Answer 4

A wise guy (literally), who noticed how ships that sail into ports always appear over the horizon, meaning that the earth is round, or else the ships would have travelled vertically on the "edge of the earth",

Answer 5

Christopher Columbus i think................

Answer 6

The ancient Greeks discovered shape of the Earth was round (sphere) 25 centuries ago. In 1687, Isaac newton said the Earth should be slightly bulged (oblate spheroid).

Answer 7

No he did not

Answer 8

Aristotle