Christopher Columbus was wrong

[Cure of Ars]

The Myth of the Flat Earth

[quote]It comes as some surprise, therefore, to find that Columbus was wrong and his critics were right - not because the world is actually flat after all, but because at the time everyone knew it was a globe and were arguing about how big it was. The idea that the uncouth people of the Middle Ages thought the Earth was flat is an example of the myth that has been propagated since the nineteenth century to give us a quite unfair view of this vibrant and exciting period.

Christopher Columbus
So what was Columbus's mistake? The disagreement between him and his critics was over the size of the world - not an easy thing to measure. The story of this controversy can be traced back to the ancient Greeks and the various ways their writings were transmitted to the West.
[/quote]


[url="http://www.id.ucsb.edu/fscf/library/RUSSELL/FlatEarth.html"]http://www.id.ucsb.edu/fscf/library/RUSSELL/FlatEarth.html[/url]
[url="http://www.bede.org.uk/flatearth.htm"]http://www.bede.org.uk/flatearth.htm[/url]

Edited July 9, 2005 by Cure of Ars

[StColette]

Very interesting. I remember having to study all this in Earth Science.

[Guest Eremite]

I always wondered about this, because many old paintings/icons depict Christ holding the round globe in his hands.

[Cure of Ars]

It was news to me.

[phatcatholic]

i thought the big fear for sailors during that time was "falling off the face of the earth." right? (i dunno, i haven't read the articles)