For anyone who was told the seasons come from the Earth being nearer the sun in summer. The axis leans 23.4°, and the figures are for 45° north (Milan, Minneapolis, Bordeaux): at noon on the June solstice the sun stands 68° above the horizon, on the December solstice 22°, so the same beam covers two and a half times the ground in December. The lean has a second effect the drawing leaves out: the sun is also up for longer: about 15½ hours against 8½ at that latitude. South of the equator everything is reversed, which distance could never explain. The orbit is drawn in perspective; in truth it is nearly a circle, and the Earth is nearest the sun around the 3rd of January, 3% nearer than in July.