Christian Garing “Pytheas, the extraordinary astronomer of Massalia”

As part of the public lectures organised by Mercredis d'Endoume, Christian Garing, agrégé and doctor in physics, will be giving a talk entitled “ Pytheas, the extraordinary astronomer of Massalia“The course can be taken face-to-face at the Endoume Marine Station or online. direct.

Summary of the conference: Pytheas, in the second half of the IV^e before our era, was the first to measure the latitude of Marseilles, using only a gnomon as a tool, and above all to determine the inclination of the Earth's axis to the ecliptic. How did he do it? The aim of his voyage was to prove that the Earth was round; he tells us that in these northern lands, the Sun does not set at the summer solstice and that the sea begins to freeze...