Flat Earth: The History Of An Infamous Idea
by Christine Garwood /
2008 / English / EPUB
1.5 MB Download
Contrary to popular belief fostered in countless school
classrooms the world over, Christopher Columbus did not
discover that the earth was round. The idea of a spherical
world had been widely accepted in educated circles from as
early as the fourth century b.c. Yet, bizarrely, it was not
until the supposedly more rational nineteenth century that
the notion of a ?at earth really took hold. Even more
bizarrely, it persists to this day, despite Apollo missions
and widely publicized pictures of the decidedly spherical
Earth from space.
Contrary to popular belief fostered in countless school
classrooms the world over, Christopher Columbus did not
discover that the earth was round. The idea of a spherical
world had been widely accepted in educated circles from as
early as the fourth century b.c. Yet, bizarrely, it was not
until the supposedly more rational nineteenth century that
the notion of a ?at earth really took hold. Even more
bizarrely, it persists to this day, despite Apollo missions
and widely publicized pictures of the decidedly spherical
Earth from space.
Based on a range of original sources, Garwood’s history of
?at-Earth beliefs---from the Babylonians to the present
day---raises issues central to the history and philosophy of
science, its relationship to religion and the making of human
knowledge about the natural world.
Based on a range of original sources, Garwood’s history of
?at-Earth beliefs---from the Babylonians to the present
day---raises issues central to the history and philosophy of
science, its relationship to religion and the making of human
knowledge about the natural world.Flat Earth
Flat Earth is the
?rst de?nitive study of one of history’s most notorious and
persistent ideas, and it evokes all the intellectual,
philosophical, and spiritual turmoil of the modern age.
Ranging from ancient Greece, through Victorian England, to
modern-day America, this is a story that encompasses
religion, science, and pseudoscience, as well as a
spectacular array of people and places. Where else could
eccentric aristocrats, fundamentalist preachers, and
conspiracy theorists appear alongside Copernicus, Newton, and
NASA, except in an account of such a legendary misconception?
is the
?rst de?nitive study of one of history’s most notorious and
persistent ideas, and it evokes all the intellectual,
philosophical, and spiritual turmoil of the modern age.
Ranging from ancient Greece, through Victorian England, to
modern-day America, this is a story that encompasses
religion, science, and pseudoscience, as well as a
spectacular array of people and places. Where else could
eccentric aristocrats, fundamentalist preachers, and
conspiracy theorists appear alongside Copernicus, Newton, and
NASA, except in an account of such a legendary misconception?
Thoroughly enjoyable and illuminating,
Thoroughly enjoyable and illuminating,Flat Earth
Flat Earth is
social and intellectual history at its best.
is
social and intellectual history at its best.