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In such cases, the neutron star's deviation from sphericity would depend on its “equation of state”—a metric for the relation among the star's radius, mass and superstrong magnetic field.

With the sphericity of the Earth empirically established by the ancient Greeks more than 2,000 years ago, it is difficult to believe that there are still holdouts.

They chose the Andes because they needed to measure near the equator, to determine if there really was a difference in sphericity there, and because they reasoned that mountains would give them good sightlines.

When Zimmermann spoke of pluralism and the “sphericity of time,” he was making a claim about the essential simultaneity of experience, not about doing whatever one liked.

By Eratosthenes’ time, most of those who thought seriously about such questions believed in the sphericity of the earth.