The earth was first proved to be an oblatesphere by survey. It was found that the higher the latitude of a place was, the shorter the straight line distance between every degree of meridian was.
在测量中已发现纬度越高的地点，子午线每一度的直线距离越短，首次用测量方法证明地球为扁圆形。
2
The earth is an oblate spheroid - a sphere with flattened poles and a slight bulge at the equator.
地球是一个扁平的球体—一个具有扁平的两极和赤道附近稍稍凸出的球体。
3
He shows that the earth is not a true sphere but an oblate spheroid and calculates the flattering.