Dicaearchus

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Dicaearchus

c. 355-c. 285 b.c.

Greek philosopher who first established latitude as a scientific concept. In about 300 b.c.Dicaearchus noted that at all points along a straight line from east to west on any given day, the noonday Sun appeared at an equal angle from the zenith. A student of Aristotle (384-322 b.c.), Dicaeaarchus wrote about a number of subjects, including the history of Greece up to his own time, and his work had an influence on such later figures as Cicero (106-43 b.c.) and Plutarch (a.d. 46?-c. 120).