Eratosthenes festivity is an annual event organized by the History of Science Museum on the 21st of June every year since 2003; the day of Summer Solstice in Alexandria and Aswan. Eratosthenes, the Greek scientist and the third librarian of the Ancient Library of Alexandria, was the first scientist who measure the circumference of the Erath before 2000 years ago in these two cities.
Eratosthenes festivity 2012 started with a lecture entitled “ Eratosthenes the Man and the History of Measuring the Circumference of the Earth” given by Dr. Shaymaa El Sherif, Head of Unit, Francophone Library department, Bibliotheca Alexandrina, and Dr. Omar Fikry, Head, Planetarium Section, Bibliotheca Alexandrina. The lecture explained the history of Eratosthenes and how he measured the circumference of the Earth.
After that, around 750 participants from PSC summer festival, governmental schools and B.A Young People Library, applicant Eratosthenes method at noon at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina Plaza followed by a videoconference between Alexandria, Aswan, American University in Cairo, Spain (CEIP Ramiro de Maeztu school) and France (Institut français de l'éducation) to compare the measurement results.
Other partner was Lycee Laliberte school in Alexandria who hosted this event in the school, they conducted the measurement as they exchanged the results through with the B.A through Skype.
In Aswan, the program included a lecture entitled “the Sun” given by Mr. Ayman Ibrahim, a senior specialist Astronomy Center Planetarium and astronomy workshop and a contest.