Subject: Re: [HM] Flat earth fallacy
From: Ralph A. Raimi (rarm@math.rochester.edu)
Date: Mon Feb 21 2000 - 16:24:33 EST
On Mon, 21 Feb 1994, Vassilis Kyrtatas wrote:
> It is not uncommon to read in pre-university student essays that "people
> once believed that the earth is flat" and even that "people who suggested
> otherwise were burnt at the stake". I find this very disturbing.
When I was (say) eight years old, which would be in 1932, and
first learned about Columbus having to persuade Ferdinand and Isabella to
finance his expedition to the Indies, I know very well that I was taught
that the major point of his argument was to convince the monarchs that the
earth was round. Indeed, I was told in so many words that his own sailors
in 1492 were on the verge of mutiny, when the voyage had gone on a long
time without issue, fearing they would soon "fall off the end of the
earth". This was told us by our teachers in Detroit, but I don't remember
if we had a textbook that said such things. In early years of school we
didn't really use textbooks.
As for the questions below, I too would like to hear from some
scholar on these matters. I suspect that ignorant peasants in central
Europe might very well have believed in a flat earth, if they thought
about it at all. Consider the common phrase, which I believe to be an old
one: "East of the sun and west of the moon", indicating "past the end".
But it is impossible to believe that a sea-faring nation, e.g. England,
Italy, Greece, would not know the earth is round.
>
> 1. Is it true that people in the Middle Ages actually believed such a thing?
>
> 2. If so, would such flat earthers include scientists and other scholars?
>
> 3. Is it possible that the wisdom of people like Ptolemy, Eratosthenes,
> Aristotle, all of who believed that the Earth is spherical, was lost in the
> Middle Ages?
>
> 4. Where do students get this factoid from? Why do they confuse geocentrism
> with flat earth? Do they seriously think that Columbus discovered that the
> Earth is not flat?
Ralph A. Raimi Tel. 716 275 4429 or (home) 716 244 9368
Dept. of Mathematics FAX 716 244 6631
University of Rochester Webpage http://www.math.rochester.edu/u/rarm
Rochester, NY 14627 (Webpage contains links to papers)
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