The naive belief that the world is flat has become the prototypical example of a pseudoscience for good reason.
Many still accept the myth that in the Middle Ages "everyone" thought the earth was flat, and Columbus had to overcome opposition from those who doubted that you could sail a ship around it. While they "know" the earth is round, the best reasons they can muster to support this idea are: "Airplanes can fly around the earth" and "We have photos of earth taken from space." Not only are students innocent of science, they are innocent of history. Students today are innocent of this ancient knowledge. The fact that one sees new stars as one moves north or south on the earth's surface. * The variation of a star's elevation with latitude. (This was the basis of Eratosthenes' measurement of the earth's size.) * The variation of the sun's elevation with latitude. * The shape of the curved shadow of the earth on the moon during eclipses. * The gradual disappearance of ships over the horizon, the tops of the sails disappearing last. The ancient Greek philosophers knew the reasons that the earth was round, and these were based on observations that any student could easily make today. Isn't that enough?" "No," I said, "That is certainly not enough." I believe it because all my teachers said it was so. On the third try, one student wrote, in frustration "I don't know why the earth is round. I gave them a chance to research the matter more carefully and submit a revised essay. Most chose to defend the conventional round earth, but their evidence and arguments were weak and often irrelevant. Then I asked them to write an essay, choosing one of these models, and defending it with evidence and sound arguments. I used to tell my college undergraduates about various views of the shape of the earth: round, flat, hollow and others.
But the logical and experimental foundations of this scientific picture are beyond the grasp of most people, who must be content to take most of science "on faith," trusting scientists to "get it right."Įducation hasn't helped as much as we might have hoped. We complacently think of this as a picture of the "real" world. Science has forged a picture of the universe and its operations that is impressive in its power and scope. ISBN: 978-3-3ĪFICIONADOS OF ESOTERIC history will be overjoyed that two books have appeared nearly simultaneously that tell the history of two eccentric and incompatible views of the shape of the earth. Hollow Earth: The Long and Curious History of imagining Strange Lands, Fantastical Creatures, advanced Civilizations, and Marvelous Machines Below the Earth's Surface by David Standish. Flat Earth: The History of an Infamous Idea by Christine Garwood.
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