Dodece on 19 September 2007
You guys do know that some clever Egyptian mathematician actually calculated the diameter of the earth before Jesus and long before the Greeks got in on the act. You can perform the measurements yourself in fact.
All you need is two good friends that live a hundred miles away from you. One to the North a hundred miles and one directly south a hundred miles. Then at true noon on a given day you and your friends place a yardstick in the ground and measure the shadow. Then comparing the distances of the shadows cast you can work out the diameter of the planet. Rather rudimentary, and you can do it with a elementary school level of mathematics. There is no complex equations required.
