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The Earth Isn't Flat, and It Isn't Round Either: Some Significan and Little Known Effects of the Earth's Ellipsoidal Shape
Barmore, Frank E.
1993-06-21
Other Titles:Reprinted from The Wisconsin Geographer
Citation:Barmore, Frank E. "The Earth Isn't Flat, and It Isn't Round Either: Some Significan and Little Known Effects of the Earth's Ellipsoidal Shape." Reprinted in Solstice: An Electronic Journal of Geography and Mathematics, Volume IV, Number 1. Ann Arbor: Institute of Mathematical Geography, 1993. Persistent URL (URI): http://hdl.handle.net/2027.42/60196
Abstract: The small difference between the shape of the earth and a sphere is usually thought to be negligible except for work of very high accuracy such as geodesy. This is not the case. There are some examples where this small difference in shape makes an easily apparent difference in what is observed. This paper will comment on three problems and evaluate the impact of the non-spherical shape of the Earth on the result: 1) the qibla problem of Islamic geography, 2) the center of area (geographic center) and 3) the center of population.
