Eratosthenes
Greek mathematician, geographer, poet, astronomer, librarian and music theorist
- Lived
- 275 BC–193 BC
Updated September 2026
About Eratosthenes
Eratosthenes of Cyrene was an Ancient Greek polymath: a philosopher, scholar, mathematician, geographer, poet, astronomer, and music theorist. Eratosthenes eventually became the chief librarian at the Library of Alexandria. His work was the precursor to the modern discipline of geography, and he introduced some of its terminology, coining the terms geography and geographer.
Biography from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photo via Wikimedia Commons.
Sources: book lists and dates from Wikidata and Open Library, ratings from Open Library readers. Last updated September 2026.