Thaddeus Vincenty
So, Thaddeus Vincenty is actually a person - he is a mathematician and geophysicist who studied how to measure distances on the earth. You know how when you want to know how far away something is, you use a ruler or tape measure, right? Well, on a really big scale, like measuring the distance between two cities or countries, regular rulers and tape measures don't work. That's where people like Thaddeus Vincenty come in.
He figured out a way to use math to measure distances on a sphere, like the earth. Basically, he used some fancy calculations to figure out the shortest distance between two points on a curved surface (which is what the earth is). It's kind of like if you were drawing a line between two points on a big balloon - you wouldn't be able to just draw a straight line like you would on a flat piece of paper, you would have to draw a curved line that follows the shape of the balloon. Thaddeus Vincenty figured out how to figure out that curved line and measure the distance along it.
People use his calculations all the time to figure out distances on the earth, like when you're planning a road trip or figuring out how far away a friend on the other side of the world is. So, even though Thaddeus Vincenty is a complicated-sounding name, it actually just belongs to a really smart guy who figured out a way to measure things we can't measure with regular rulers and tape measures!
He figured out a way to use math to measure distances on a sphere, like the earth. Basically, he used some fancy calculations to figure out the shortest distance between two points on a curved surface (which is what the earth is). It's kind of like if you were drawing a line between two points on a big balloon - you wouldn't be able to just draw a straight line like you would on a flat piece of paper, you would have to draw a curved line that follows the shape of the balloon. Thaddeus Vincenty figured out how to figure out that curved line and measure the distance along it.
People use his calculations all the time to figure out distances on the earth, like when you're planning a road trip or figuring out how far away a friend on the other side of the world is. So, even though Thaddeus Vincenty is a complicated-sounding name, it actually just belongs to a really smart guy who figured out a way to measure things we can't measure with regular rulers and tape measures!