NavList:

I’m enjoying reading Seb Falk’s ‘The Light Ages’.  Well it gives me something to think about during my hour on our cycling machine while we’re in ‘lockdown’.  On page 92/93 Falk says Aristotle used the shadow of the Earth on the Moon during a lunar eclipse as a further argument that the Earth is a sphere.  I've read this in other places too.  It being a long while since I observed a lunar eclipse, if ever, I thought it would be illuminating to look at some modern photographs using Google Images.  I’ll use any excuse to get off that cycling machine.  I’m afraid I didn’t find them very convincing.  The 32’ diameter of the Sun makes any shadow of the Earth rather fuzzy plus you only see a segment of a circle.  It’s the same as when these 'armchair survival experts' tell you all the navigational tricks you can get up to simply by measuring the length and direction of your staff’s shadow.  When you go outside and try it, you find a shadow’s edge is anything but precise.  DaveP