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).