8. Atlas The ancient Greeks were not the first to make maps, but they can be credited with changing map-making from a haphazard and scattered process into a rigorous science. The first known world map was made by Anaximander of Miletus, an ancient Greek. His map featured Greece at the center surrounded by Asia, Europe, and Africa. The land masses were surrounded by ocean and according to his map, the Earth was flat. Eratosthenes was the first person to describe the world as a sphere-shape. He knew that if the world were flat, shadows would be the same size everywhere on every day. Erastothenes put sticks in the ground at two different locations and measured the lengths of their shadows at different times during the year. From this information he was able to calculate the size of the Earth. Even though he was right, it took more than 1500 years for people to accept that the Earth is round.
8. Atlas The ancient Greeks were not the first to make maps, but they can be credited with changing map-making from a haphazard and scattered process into a rigorous science. The first known world map was made by Anaximander of Miletus, an ancient Greek. His map featured Greece at the center surrounded by Asia, Europe, and Africa. The land masses were surrounded by ocean and according to his map, the Earth was flat. Eratosthenes was the first person to describe the world as a sphere-shape. He knew that if the world were flat, shadows would be the same size everywhere on every day. Erastothenes put sticks in the ground at two different locations and measured the lengths of their shadows at different times during the year. From this information he was able to calculate the size of the Earth. Even though he was right, it took more than 1500 years for people to accept that the Earth is round.
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