The Shape of the Earth

In the olden days, sailors feared to venture far into the distant ocean because they thought that when they reached the edge of the earth, they would slip down and perish in the bottomless ocean. This is, of course, not true. From years of accumulated knowledge, experience and observations in different parts of the world, we know that the earth is round. Its spherical shape is an established fact, proved and accepted by all. There has been so much research done on earth science that its various dimensions have been accurately found. It has an equatorial circumference of 40,084 km and its polar circumference is less by 133 km. Its equatorial diameter is 12,761 km and its polar diameter is shorter by 42 km. This simply shows that the earth is not a perfect sphere. It is a little flattened at both ends like an orange. It can, in fact, be called a geoid ('earth-shaped'). The spherical shape of the earth is also masked by the intervening highlands and oceans on its surface.