Question

Who is the father of Geography?
a. Aristotle
b. Eratosthenes
c. Herodotus
d. Ptolemy

Answer 1

Hint: The father of Geography is a title given to a person who had made an important study regarding the Earth, based on his calculations. He was the person who had established the Geographical study as a different subject, before which Geography and Physics were studied as a common subject.

Complete answer:
The people mentioned in the options are all great scholars.
Let’s look at our options one by one:
a. Aristotle - He was a disciple of Plato, the main disciple of the great philosopher Socrates. He had a keen interest in Physics, biology and philosophy. But he has not done any remarkable work in the field of Geography. So, it is an incorrect option.
b. Eratosthenes - He was a Greek mathematician who had a profound interest in geography. He was the founder of Geography and holds the credit to calculate the circumference of the Earth. He also calculated the tilt axis of the Earth. He also calculated the distance between the Sun and the Earth besides giving the concept of the Leap Day. So, it is the correct option.
c. Herodotus - Herodotus was a Persian born historian who had worked a lot on the biographies of the kings of that era, the most prominent of them being Darius. So, it is an incorrect option.
d. Ptolemy - Ptolemy was an astronomer and a geographer. However, he lived long after Eratosthenes who had founded the subject of Geography before the birth of Christ. So, it is an incorrect option.
Hence, the correct answer is, ‘b. Eratosthenes’.

Note: Since the scholars mentioned here are all notable ones, there might be a confusion regarding Aristotle being the father of Geography as he had an expertise on various subjects. However, Aristotle studied geography as a part of Science whereas Eratosthenes made it a new subject to study.