Instead of saying that Russell debunks all the myths, why not cite a myth or two and show how Russell debunks 'em? --Ed Poor
Has anyone else noticed that this article contradicts itself? Also, which Greek philosophers thought that? Also, from the way this is written, oone could infer that Russell is writing outside his field. Russell is a medievalist who specializes in History of Christianity and the problems of evil and the Devil -- however, he *has* been teaching the first third of the western Civ sequence for about 25 years...and is well-respected by his peers. I am removing the links to Amazon and Pricescan, since I see no valid reason for thier existenceunless they are sponsoring the wikipedia. JHK
Thales and his friends thought so. Or at the very least, some of them did. And even without them, it would still be quite definitely the general impression the early Greeks had of geography. Noone suspects the world is round until you've journeyed far enough to have a reason to suppose otherwise. I suspect what Russell was really saying is that no educated people during late Antiquity and the Middle Ages thought the world was flat, but I'm not going to change the page since I have no way to be sure. It's a mess as it stands, though.
I read that pythagoras wrote the earth was round, and some other greek guy a few hundred years later calculated (fairly accurately!) the circumference of the earth somehow by measuring sun angles between two cities. I've also heard that sailors were pretty sure the earth was round since they could see boats go ever the horizon of water
--alan d
Yup. But these were later Greeks, and besides, not everyone decided the world was round at the same time.