Gregory J. Neumann wrote:
How could it take those things into account? They did not measure it. It was an arbitrary estimate.
Why do you say that? And what do you mean by an "arbitrary estimate"? There are better ways to measure the circumference of the earth than using a very long tape measure. The Egyptians knew the circumference of the earth to an error of 2 or 3%.
Incidentally, mountains and valleys only add a tiny error. If you were a giant so that the earth was the size of a beach ball, you would not feel any surface features. It would feel smooth like a baby's butt.
Consider this example: Mount Everest is about 8.8km high. Earths circumference is about 40,000 km. So a surface feature like Everest would add an error in the order of 0.02%.
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