ایراتوستھینز کی اصل وجہ شہرت اپنے تجربات سے کرۂ ارض کو گول ثابت کرنا ہے۔ اس نے زمین کا خط استوا پر محیط 40 ہزار کلومیٹر کے قریب بتایا۔ ایراتوستھینز نے زمین کے گول ہونے سے متعلق ارسطو کے خیالات سے اتفاق کیا اور زمین کی پیمائش کے حوالے سے ٹھوس دلائل پیش کیے۔[5]
↑The Suda states that he was born in the 126th Olympiad, (276–272 BC). اسٹرابو (Geography, i.2.2), though, states that he was a "pupil" (γνωριμος) of Zeno of Citium (who died 262 BC), which would imply an earlier year-of-birth (285قبل مسیح) since he is unlikely to have studied under him at the young age of 14. However, γνωριμος can also mean "acquaintance", and the year of Zeno's death is by no means definite. Cf. Eratosthenes entry in the Dictionary of Scientific Biography (1971)
↑The Suda states he died at the age of 80, Censorinus (De die natali, 15) at the age of 81, and Pseudo-Lucian (Makrobioi, 27) at the age of 82.
↑Roller, Duane W. Eratosthenes' Geography. New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2010.