Quote:
Originally Posted by jamesqf
[calculating the distance from pole to equator by measuring the stars]
Not quite as simple as all that. Quite aside from the fact that few people have precision astronomical gear, you have to figure that the Earth is not a perfect sphere, and Paris is not at sea level. Whereas almost everyone has many people have a pair of legs, and can count :-)
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Guess what - measuring the position of stars, combined with precise land metering (see Geodesy) allows for a very good approximation of the changing curvature of the earth.
I hane a hunch that even if that variance was ignored after all, the result would be more precise than measuring pace length by walking.
My wife is 30.6 centimeter smaller than I am. Guess what that does for pace length.
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