Department of Energy Argonne National Laboratory Office of Science NEWTON's Homepage NEWTON's Homepage
NEWTON, Ask A Scientist!
NEWTON Home Page NEWTON Teachers Visit Our Archives Ask A Question How To Ask A Question Question of the Week Our Expert Scientists Volunteer at NEWTON! Frequently Asked Questions Referencing NEWTON About NEWTON About Ask A Scientist Education At Argonne Earth's Angle 
Name: Sally
Status: Other
Age: 50s
Location: N/A
Country: N/A
Date: N/A
Question:
I have been looking for the answer to this question everywhere and cannot find it. Who discovered that the earth was on a 23.5 degree tilt and when was it accepted?


Replies:
I don't know who is credited with determining that the Earth is tilted, but scientific observers/astronomers surely knew it by the time of the invention of the telescope. The effects of the tilt were apparent even to the ancients, by 2000 BC, as they were building pyramids and astrological devices (stone circles, etc.) to allow them to track the seasons. Eventually Milutin Milankovitch used the tilt and the variation of it with time, plus the Earth's orbit around the Sun to help explain long term climate changes.

David Cook


Click here to return to the Environmental and Earth Science Archives

NEWTON is an electronic community for Science, Math, and Computer Science K-12 Educators, sponsored and operated by Argonne National Laboratory's Educational Programs, Andrew Skipor, Ph.D., Head of Educational Programs.

For assistance with NEWTON contact a System Operator (help@newton.dep.anl.gov), or at Argonne's Educational Programs

NEWTON AND ASK A SCIENTIST
Educational Programs
Building 360
9700 S. Cass Ave.
Argonne, Illinois
60439-4845, USA
Update: June 2012
Weclome To Newton

Argonne National Laboratory