Question

Who is the father of Geography?
A.Aristotle
B.Eratosthenes
C.Herodotus
D.Ptolemy

Answer 1

Hint:The word geography was first used by an astronomer and mathematician from ancient Greece known as Eratosthenes of Cyrene. He was also successful in creating a highly accurate map of the world.

Complete answer:Eratosthenes is known as the father of geography.The branch of science that deals with earth, natural phenomena occurring on earth, study of physical features of earth, it’s water bodies, land masses, the environment and interaction of inhabitants of the Earth with the environment is known as geography. Eratosthenes was the first known geographer who has contributed a lot to this branch of science. A highly accurate map of the world was created by him that contained the grid lines same as the latitudes and longitudes that are used by people today for plotting various places on the earth. He was also successful in calculating the circumference of earth with great accuracy. To measure the circumference of earth, he used a few measurements like he used the depth of a well in Syene where only on the day of summer solstice the sun rays would reach the bottom. Distance between Syene and Alexandra was also known to him. The tilt of the Earth on its own axis was calculated by him and the leap year calculation used by people today has also been given by him. Not only in geography, but his contribution can be seen in the world of mathematics as well.

Hence, the correct answer is option (B).

Note:Eratosthenes has made some of the remarkable contribution towards the field of geography. One of them being the creation of a map of the world containing grid lines that resemble longitudes and latitudes used today for locating the places on the planet.