, 18 June 2011 (UTC) 

 ::By the way, there is no need to be nasty or sarcastic. WikiPedia is a cooperative adventure, and snide comments do not promote its ends. Simply state the facts as you know them. 

 ::My guess is that the spherical shape of the Earth was well known long before Eratosthenes made his measurement of the size of the Earth, though I do not know this for a fact offhand and the person who originally posted this claim needs to come up with a citation. An authoritative source here doesn't say anything about Eratosthenes having proven that the Earth was spherical.  

 ::I know some historians of astronomy and will consult with them for more authoritative information.   23:33