Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
THE AGORA — I have always wanted to be smart. Like wicked smart, but the universe had other plans. Or, is it my genetics that had different plans?
Regardless, I'm not wicked smart. I wouldn't say I'm even smart. On occasion I'm clever, but that's usually me backing into it. I have been called a problem-solver in the past, but only by those who didn't realize I had successfully placed myself in the problem to begin with.
Regardless, I'm not a bright man, but I've built a good life for myself. And I found the secret. I married an incredibly smart and talented woman. She has kept us afloat and thriving all these years. After watching this video, I realized my wife would have been wildly successful in Ancient Greece and I would have been asked to leave the Agora and never come back because everyone was now dumber for hearing me speak and warning them of the Bearpocalypse.
The brilliant, late astronomer Carl Sagan explains to all of us, in this old video, how the Ancient Greek mathematician, Eratosthenes, figured out the Earth was round all those years ago.
I won't do it justice here, as Sagan brilliantly explains the methods Eratosthenes used to figure it out. Let's just say, it took a strong pair of feet and a brilliant mind to pull it off.
I can't figure out how to fix my sprinklers and Eratosthenes was figuring out the exact curvature of the Earth without Google, or even a calculator. I can't say this makes me feel great about myself, but I did find this wildly interesting, so that's something.
Have You Seen This?
