MATHEMATICS 8
TALES OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY
the Great Pyramid
On one of his trips to Egypt, Thales was asked if he could find the height of the great pyramid.He set a stick in the ground and said that at the time when the length of the stick’s shadow is equal to the the length of the stick above the ground , then the length of the pyramid’s shadow will be equal to its height.The story is based on a very sound mathematical theory, namely the theory of similar triangles.
pictures of Thales
Although theory behind the story is a hundred percent sound, I cannot imagine how the great pyramid could cast a shadow as lengthy as its height and how the length of the shadow could be measured.