21 June 2007
The "Eratosthenes Annual Festivity" is an event organized by the History of Science Museum on 21 June of every year, the day of summer solstice, when the Sun is directly overhead and is at its highest point on the horizon. For the second year in arrow, the festivity takes place in both the cities of Alexandria and Aswan.
The first activity of “Eratosthenes 2007” was the application of the experiment that Eratosthenes used to calculate the circumference of the Earth around 2000 years ago.
In Alexandria, more than 200 children participated in the event. The program included:
- Workshop: Measuring the circumference of the Earth;
- Measuring application on the BA Plaza;
- Videoconference with schools in Aswan and France; and
- Lecture on Geodetics.
Meanwhile, in Aswan the program included:
- Lecture: Measuring the size of the world;
- Fieldtrip to the Elephantine Island to visit the famous well of Eratosthenes;
- Workshop: Taking measurements; and
- Video conference with schools in Alexandria and France.
The participants in both Alexandria and Aswan showed great interest in the activities, and Long fruitful discussions took place between the participating schoolchildren and the speakers:
Denis Savoie
Head of the Planetarium and Astronomy-Astrophysics Department,
Palais de la Découverte, Paris.
Dr. Omar Fikry
Head of Planetarium Shows and Programs Unit,
BA Planetarium Science Center