Portuguese people explored Africa and Asia, Columbus sailed to the Americas (1492) and Ferdinand Magellan's circumnavigated (sailed all round) the earth (1519-21). The following authors argued for a spherical or ball shaped earth: King Alfred of the Anglo-Saxons, Hildegard von Bingen, Thomas Aquinas, Snorri Sturluson, Marco Polo, Dante Alighieri, Christopher Columbus Therefore in the Ancient world only sailors, astronomers, philosophers, and theologians would have cared about the Earth's large-scale shape. The large-scale shape of the Earth only matters when considering large distances. ![]() Then, Aristotle proved the Earth was round in around 330 BC. People first started having the thought that the Earth is round in around 6th century BC. From then on, few educated people ever believed in its being flat. Eratosthenes (276 BC–194 BC) calculated the circumference of the Earth quite well. This was a common belief until the Classical Greeks began to discuss the Earth's shape about the 4th century BC. Early Mesopotamian maps showed the world as a flat disk floating in the ocean. Belief in a flat Earth is found in the oldest writings. ![]() ![]() The idea of a flat Earth is that the surface of the Earth is flat (a plane). This kind of medieval mappa mundi illustrates only the reachable side of a round Earth. 15th century adaptation of a T and O map.
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