Flat Earth

The flat Earth theory is the idea that Earth is flat, as opposed to the view that the Earth is very nearly spherical (see Spherical Earth).

Related Topics:
Earth - Spherical - Spherical Earth

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It is commonly assumed that people from early antiquity generally believed the world was flat, but by the time of Pliny the Elder (1st century) its spherical shape was generally acknowledged. At that time Ptolemy derived his maps from a curved globe and developed the system of latitude and longitude (see clime). His writings remained the basis of European astronomy throughout the Middle Ages. The common misconception that people before the age of exploration believed that the earth was flat entered the popular imagination after Washington Irving's publication of The Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus in 1828.

Related Topics:
Pliny the Elder - 1st century - Ptolemy - Latitude - Longitude - Clime - European - Middle Ages - Age of exploration - Washington Irving - 1828

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A few early Christian writers questioned and even opposed Earth's sphericity on theological grounds. With the astrolabe, Arab astronomy reached Europe in the 11th century, and by the 1100s at the latest, the geocentric model had supplanted it in the minds of the learned people of Europe. This did not settle, however, the question of whether the antipodes were inhabitable, or even reachable.

Related Topics:
Christian - Astrolabe - Arab - 11th century - 1100s - Geocentric model - Antipodes

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~