He then brought maths in to solve this case. From a simple photo of a lake to Google Earth to distance and then to maths, Greg went in head first to prove his point. He used maths to find out how much of an arc would 8.4 miles makes out of the entire earth’s circumference. He found out that 8.4 miles of the Earth’s circumference makes an arc of 0.12 degrees.
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Now Greg needed to see for himself what a 0.12-degree arc would look like. For this, he broke out the graph paper. There was no better or easier way to know this. On a graph, you can easily graph a circle and pinpoint precise locations.
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First Greg needed to get the right degree. He started with 90, the 45, then 20 and lastly to 1 degree. As you can see, a 1-degree arc is quite flat and has no curve. This would explain why a 0.12-degree arc would not be visible to the naked eye. But he still found it.
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After a while, Greg was able to see what a 0.12-degree arc would look like. That’s when he realized that it isn’t much, it’s barely noticeable. In a simple graph drawing one can see it better but on the horizon, it becomes harder to see. In this way, he was able to prove the earth is round.
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So, finally, Greg was able to prove the earth is round. Yes, we all knew this from the start but it is quite enjoyable and a good learning experience to see how a man’s curiosity can get him to find answers. Yes, Greg could’ve just left the image as it is and ignored any reason to get an explanation. But that is what’s so beautiful about the human mind. Our thirst for knowledge, our hunger for answers.
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