Everyone knew the world was round – Columbus just thought, despite studying Eratosthenes (first person known to calculate size of Earth and was within 10%), it was one third smaller than it was
not only did ancient greeks (almost 2000 years before) know the earth was round, a handful of greeks even speculated that the earth and others rotated around the sun. AND the scandinavians/vikings were the first europeans to visit the new world 200-300 years before columbus. columbus was nothing but a scam artist whose geographic skills are zero to none.
Questions like “Will they claim I discover something even I was NOT the first explorer there but also if my arrival there was completely by mistake?”Yes, yes they will.
You all mar a good joke by being dense about its message,i.e.’ that the bright and intellectually curious are rarely seen as such by the dumb of mankind. Yes, we aware that the world was known as round in the classical age.
Silk Road interests spent a lot of money on experts to put out writings that refuted so-called ‘Round-Earth Science’.
.
With a coordinated effort to get city-state rulers to support ‘teaching the controversy’, no wonder there were still so many superstitious deck hands in the 15th Century.
Not only did the ancients know the world was round, but they knew how big it was. Columbus went with the smallest estimate he could find (even though it was repudiated even in ancient times), proposed that the Earth was pear shaped and that Spain and Asia were on the skinny neck of the pear, and used the westernmost latitude for Spain (again known to be a bad figure) and the easternmost estimate of and extension for Asia and fudged these figures even more.
.
As a result, America was right where he expected India to be.
I dunno, still looks flat to me, other than for that hill over thataway and the gully over yonder, of course.
(If you take a small enough sample, flat is a good approximation. That’s why townships were limited to six miles by six miles and measured from the middle, methinks.)
SashaW almost 8 years ago
They knew it was round, hundreds of years before that.
David Huie Green LoveJoyAndPeace almost 8 years ago
“She’s a round, like my head.”
BLAM
“She’s a flat like your head”
John M almost 8 years ago
Everyone knew the world was round – Columbus just thought, despite studying Eratosthenes (first person known to calculate size of Earth and was within 10%), it was one third smaller than it was
darth_geekboy almost 8 years ago
not only did ancient greeks (almost 2000 years before) know the earth was round, a handful of greeks even speculated that the earth and others rotated around the sun. AND the scandinavians/vikings were the first europeans to visit the new world 200-300 years before columbus. columbus was nothing but a scam artist whose geographic skills are zero to none.
TossedSaladCartoon almost 8 years ago
Questions like “Will they claim I discover something even I was NOT the first explorer there but also if my arrival there was completely by mistake?”Yes, yes they will.
jessie d. almost 8 years ago
You all mar a good joke by being dense about its message,i.e.’ that the bright and intellectually curious are rarely seen as such by the dumb of mankind. Yes, we aware that the world was known as round in the classical age.
Dirty Dragon almost 8 years ago
Silk Road interests spent a lot of money on experts to put out writings that refuted so-called ‘Round-Earth Science’.
.
With a coordinated effort to get city-state rulers to support ‘teaching the controversy’, no wonder there were still so many superstitious deck hands in the 15th Century.
Neat '33 almost 8 years ago
Gotta agree with darth geekboy, but methinks he/we should also include the Chinese in there too?
dflak almost 8 years ago
Not only did the ancients know the world was round, but they knew how big it was. Columbus went with the smallest estimate he could find (even though it was repudiated even in ancient times), proposed that the Earth was pear shaped and that Spain and Asia were on the skinny neck of the pear, and used the westernmost latitude for Spain (again known to be a bad figure) and the easternmost estimate of and extension for Asia and fudged these figures even more.
.
As a result, America was right where he expected India to be.
dflak almost 8 years ago
Make that longitude for Spain.
paranormal almost 8 years ago
The world in 1 dimension, before 2 and 3 dimension was invented.
Dennis Johns almost 8 years ago
DirtyDragon: Like your comments…. Gee; sounds a lot like the garbage that goes on EVEN in the 21st Century! ;-)
Rwill almost 8 years ago
If the world is round how can it balance on the back of the turtle?
David Huie Green LoveJoyAndPeace almost 8 years ago
JimmyTheHand said,
“Everyone knew the world was round”
.
I dunno, still looks flat to me, other than for that hill over thataway and the gully over yonder, of course.
(If you take a small enough sample, flat is a good approximation. That’s why townships were limited to six miles by six miles and measured from the middle, methinks.)
jessie d. almost 8 years ago
@Jimmy read his work, the Four Voyages and you’ll prove yourself incorrect.