Eratosthenes

American  

[er-uh-tos-thuh-neez] / ˌɛr əˈtɒs θəˌniz /

noun

1. 276?–195? b.c., Greek mathematician and astronomer at Alexandria.

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Eratosthenes British  

/ ˌɛrəˈtɒsθɪˌniːz /

noun

1. ?276–?194 _bc , Greek mathematician and astronomer, who calculated the circumference of the earth by observing the angle of the sun's rays at different places

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Eratosthenes Scientific  

/ ĕr′ə-tŏs′thə-nēz′ /

1. Greek mathematician and astronomer who is best known for making an accurate estimate of the circumference of the Earth by measuring the angle of the Sun's rays at two different locations at the same time. He also invented a method for listing the prime numbers that are less than any given number.

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Example Sentences

Eratosthenes defined bands of klima, later to be called clim-ata, going from frigid belts in the high latitudes, where there was permanent night in winter, to a hot band near the equator.

From Scientific American

So did Pythagoras, Archimedes and later, in 240BC, the astronomer Eratosthenes, who was among the first to estimate the Earth’s circumference.

From The Guardian

History does not record if Eratosthenes arrived in the city with the proper eyewear.

From Literature

On the other hand, suppose our time traveler had persuaded Queen Isabella that Columbus’ geography was faulty, that from Eratosthenes’ estimate of the circumference of the Earth, Columbus could never reach Asia.

From Literature

Just as a chess player might examine variations of the Ruy Lopez and King’s Indian Defense, a mathematician might study particularly clever applications of the Chinese remainder theorem or the sieve of Eratosthenes.

From New York Times