It is not surprising that it was the Greeks, with their profound understanding of geometrical principles, who were the first to devise methods of mea… - Dennis W. Sciama

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It is not surprising that it was the Greeks, with their profound understanding of geometrical principles, who were the first to devise methods of measuring the size of the earth and the distance to the sun and the moon. Indeed, their results were not superseded until the eighteenth century, when telescopes had been developed to the point where new methods could be introduced.