Terrestrial and Celestial Globes Vol I

l Globes i

-Statements of Herodotus.-The place of Hecataeus, Hipparchus, Marinus, Ptolemy.-The Romans as map makers.-The earliest beliefs in a globular earth.-Thales, the Pythagoreans, Aristotle.-Eratosthenes an

au regions, its fertile valleys, and its desert stretches were wont, as we are told, to watch the stars rise nightly in the east, sweep across the great vaulted space above, and set in the west as if controlled in their apparent movement by living spirits. To them this exhibition was one marvelous and awe-inspiring. In the somewhat strange grouping of the stars they early fancied they could see the

of the map maker, but to which they added as their knowledge expanded. The early Egyptians, for example, as we long have known, made use of rough outline drawings (Fig. 1)2 to represent certain features of special sections of their country, and recently discovered tablets in the lower Mesopotamian valley (Fig. 2) interestingly show us how far advanced in the matter of map making the inhabitants of that land were two thousand years before the Christian era.3 We are likewise assured, through refe

nt Map of Egyp

epresenting Baby

f Herodotus (484-400? B. C.), wherein we are told that Aristagoras, the tyrant of Miletus, when on a mission to Cleomenes, the King of Sparta, carried with him "a copper plate on which was engraved the whole circuit of the earth, and likewise all the Seas and Rivers."8 In another passage, Herodotus takes occasion to criticise maps of this circular character. "I laugh," he says, "when I see that, though many before this have drawn maps of the Earth, yet no one has set the matter forth in an intelligent way; seeing t

aearchus of Massina (350-290 B. C.)11 was the first to employ a central line of orientation on a map, one passing through the Mediterranean east and west, and that he represented on his map all the lands known since the expedition of Alexander the Great into the Far East; and further, that Eratosthenes, the librarian of Alexandria (276-196 B. C.),12 was the first to attempt a representation of the curved surface of the earth on a plane in accord with geometrical rules. The scientif

em not to have found general favor with his contemporaries, nor with the geographers of the middle ages. (Fig. 3.) It was not until the so-ca

Ptolemy

omponius Mela (fl. ca. 43 A. D.)16 and Pliny (ca. 23-79 A. D.)17 alone have rank of importance. In the matter of map construction the Romans held to many of the cruder methods and ideas of th

ions of Peut

g that the earth is a sphere because that is the most perfect form, that it is located in the center of the universe because that is the place of honor, and that it is at rest because rest is more dignified than motion.20 It however was Aristotle who undertook, in the manner of a philosopher, an elaborate defense of the Pythagorean doctrine of a globular earth, supporting his arguments, first, through a reference to such positive proof as may be found in gravitation or "the tendency of all particles of matter to form themselves about the middle and thus make a sphere," and secondly, through a reference to the appearance of the earth's shadow cast during an eclipse of the moon.21 A third proof, so familiar to us today, that distan

king a terrestrial globe. There is no intimation, however, in any early allusion to Eratosthenes that he was a globe maker, or that he knew anything about globe construction. We know that he thought of the earth as a sphere placed in the center of the universe, around which the celestial

be accordin

nd antipodal peoples in the day of great transoceanic discoveries.26 That Strabo, at a later date, had this Pergamenian example in mind when stating certain rules to be observed in the construction of globes seems probable, since he makes mention of Crates' globe. Strabo alone among ancient writers, so far as we at present know, treats of terrestrial globes, practically such as we find in use at the present day. He thought that a globe to be serviceable should be of large size, and his reasoning can readily be understood, for what at that time was really known of the earth's surface was small indeed in comparison with what was unknown. Should one not make use of a sphere of large dimensions, the habitable regions (Fig. 6), in comparison with the earth's entire surface, would occupy but small space. What Strabo states in his geography is interesting and may here well be cited. "Whoever would represent the real earth," he says, "as near as possible by artificial means, should make a sphere like that of Crates, and upon this draw the quadrilateral within which hi

be accordin

practical construction of terrestrial globes, for it seems reasonable to conclude tha

tablishing by means of the two geographical co?rdinates the true geographical position of every known place. To the end of making globes more serviceable he suggested the use of a meridian circle, such as is today employed in globe construction, passing through both poles, within which circle the globe might be made to move freely on its ax

t perfect figure. We always speak of the ball of the earth, and we admit it to be a globe bounded by the poles. It has not indeed the form of an absolute sphere, from the number of lofty mountains and flat plains; but if the termination of the lines be bound by a curve, this would compose a perfect sphere. And this we learn from arguments drawn from the nature of things, although not from the same considerations which we h

O

er Eastern peoples. See the introductory pages of such works as Dalambre, M. Histoire de l'astronomie ancienne. Paris, 1817; Lockyer, J. N. The Dawn of Astronomy. New York, 1894; Allan, H. A. Star Names and their Meanings; Wolf, R. Gesc

Maspero. Paris, 1902. Tome deuxième, Plate

ts as a circular plain surrounded by the Persian Gulf (Ma-ra-tum). The city Babylon (Babylu) is indicated near the center, and next to it the land of Assyria (Ashshur). The position of certain other cities is indicated. The district toward the south, bordering the Persian Gulf, is represented as bein

e der Griechen. Leipzig, 1887-1894. This work was issued in four parts. Forbiger, A. Handbuch der alten Geographie nach den Quellen bearbeitet. Hamburg, 1877; Schmidt, M. C. P. Zur Geschichte der geographischen Litteratur bei den Griechen und R?mern. Ber

ury, op. cit., Vol. I, p. 122; B

47; XXI, 225-228; Ody

ulation concerning the physi

tion from translation by Macaulay, G. C. The

it., Bk. IV, chap.

chap. v; Schmidt, op. cit.,

Atticum. vi. 2; Bunbury,

pt. 3; Bunbury, op. c

3; Bunbury, op. cit., Vol

nd-hand. Ptolemy extols him in the highest terms, but he undertook to reform h

pp. 322 ff.); Nordenski?ld, A. E. Facsimile Atlas. Stockholm, 1889. This last-named work gives consideration to the Atlas of Ptolemy, to the numerous editions of his Geographia, to his geographic

hie. Rosenheim, 1881. Mela titled his work, "De situ orbis." Excellent tr. into E

s editions of original; various English translati

vensburg, 1887; Porena, F. Orbis pictus d'Agrippa. Roma, 1883; Desjardins,

e Astronomy of the Ancients. London, 18

it., Vol. I, chap

the Heavens, from the Greek with copious elucidations. London, 1807. Plato's statement in Phaedo merely observes that the earth, if like a ball, must be suspended without support in the interior of a hollow sp

0. See translation by Jones, H. L. The Ge

. cit., Vol. I

i den Hellenen. (In: Grenzboten, Vol. xxxiv, pp. 408 ff.); Müllenhoff, C. (In: Deutsche alterthumskunde.

iedrich, R. Materialien zur Begriffsbest

erein the author gives consideration to the doctrine of the antipodes as held in the middle ages. Berger. Geschichte, pt. 3, p. 129, notes that the idea of the earth's division into four parts or quarters persisted for centuries after Crates' day, if not among scientific geographers, at least among those who could be said to

le torrid zone a habitable region. The map of Lambertus well represents this early theory. Pomponius Mela called the inhabitants of this southern region "Antichthoni," their country being unkno

cit., Bk. II,

eographia. Bk

, Bk. II, chap. 64