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Hu? This is completely unrelated. The overall idea of a spherical earth is a consensus since ancient Greece, and has been considered a fact since then. Copern

Hu? This is completely unrelated. The overall idea of a spherical earth is a consensus since ancient Greece, and has been considered a fact since then. Copernicus more or less established that the earth revolves around the sun, and not the other way around. I use "more or less" here because 1) The idea of the earth revolving around the sun was not _new_, it was already discussed and debated in ancient Greek texts. Part of the renaissance movement is based on the re-study of ancient Greek texts, which was influential to Copernicus and his ideas. 2) There is no universal truth behind what revolves around what. It's just a matter of perspective, and having the earth rotate around the sun did had the advantage of making calendar computations much simpler, since you don't have to deal with intricate planet retro-cessions. That was the reason that led Copernicus to choose this perspective.

DalasNoin 7y ago
Just about the point that it was a consensus since ancient Greece: it certainly wasn't a consensus around the world until somewhat recently According to Wikipedia: "Many ancient cultures subscribed to a flat Earth cosmography, including Greece until the classical period, the Bronze Age and Iron Age civilizations of the Near East until the Hellenistic period, India until the Gupta period (early centuries AD), and China until the 17th century. The idea of a spherical Earth appeared in Greek philosophy with Pythagoras (6th century BC), although most pre-Socratics (6th–5th century BC) retained the flat Earth model." Interestingly, it seems nobody but the Greeks independently discovered the spherical earth model
- thombat 7y ago
  But it was certainly a consensus in educated Western Europe, or Columbus wouldn't have been heading west to get to the East Indies (his innovation was to be obstinately wrong about the diameter of the Earth, which would have doomed the voyage but for the fortunate collision with the Carribean) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Df-uemc-e3w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Df-uemc-e3w
  - raverbashing 7y ago
    I wonder what he was really thinking: a) "I believe the distance is smaller and that we'll be able to get there no problem (as much as a trip like that could be ""no problem"")" b) "distance is bigger but there might be something in between, etc, and I like adventures" c) "distance is (or might be) bigger and this will be a very boring trip but we'll eventually get there but might have to wing it.
    - Galanwe 7y ago
      d) I will open up a new commercial route starting directly from western Europe to reach India without the hassle of crossing the whole Europe on ground.
      - raverbashing 7y ago
        Yes but you have to get there first. Going west from Europe to India doesn't make sense today, it seems the Cape of "Good Hope" was reached (but not crossed) before Columbus's voyage.
        soneil 7y ago
        It's still a very popular route for sailing. You essentially ride the tropical conveyors from the Azores until the Indian Ocean. The Americas are a minor inconvenience, solved by the Panama Canal. It's getting back which is the issue - your have the disastrously weathered cape of good hope, or the pirate-infested Aden. It's quite ironic that if you want to sail around the world, it's the ancient routes that are the worst parts. If Columbus had discovered the Americans were an archipelago, or if the gulf of mexico had properly separated north and south, the discovery would have been a very popular trade route - even today.
        lonelappde 7y ago
        What if rising sea level puts Panama under water?
foobar_ 7y ago
My bad, I was just commenting on it because it seems like a very primitive model of physics developed by islanders. It makes me wonder why people are still debating about these things even if they are facts. Maybe it's because most people can hardly math. You can blame half the bullshit on conspiracy mongers. Damn though, engineering mishaps are bad :/

DalasNoin 7y ago

Just about the point that it was a consensus since ancient Greece: it certainly wasn't a consensus around the world until somewhat recently According to Wikipedia: "Many ancient cultures subscribed to a flat Earth cosmography, including Greece until the classical period, the Bronze Age and Iron Age civilizations of the Near East until the Hellenistic period, India until the Gupta period (early centuries AD), and China until the 17th century. The idea of a spherical Earth appeared in Greek philosophy with Pythagoras (6th century BC), although most pre-Socratics (6th–5th century BC) retained the flat Earth model." Interestingly, it seems nobody but the Greeks independently discovered the spherical earth model

thombat 7y ago
But it was certainly a consensus in educated Western Europe, or Columbus wouldn't have been heading west to get to the East Indies (his innovation was to be obstinately wrong about the diameter of the Earth, which would have doomed the voyage but for the fortunate collision with the Carribean) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Df-uemc-e3w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Df-uemc-e3w
- raverbashing 7y ago
  I wonder what he was really thinking: a) "I believe the distance is smaller and that we'll be able to get there no problem (as much as a trip like that could be ""no problem"")" b) "distance is bigger but there might be something in between, etc, and I like adventures" c) "distance is (or might be) bigger and this will be a very boring trip but we'll eventually get there but might have to wing it.
  - Galanwe 7y ago
    d) I will open up a new commercial route starting directly from western Europe to reach India without the hassle of crossing the whole Europe on ground.
    - raverbashing 7y ago
      Yes but you have to get there first. Going west from Europe to India doesn't make sense today, it seems the Cape of "Good Hope" was reached (but not crossed) before Columbus's voyage.
      - soneil 7y ago
        It's still a very popular route for sailing. You essentially ride the tropical conveyors from the Azores until the Indian Ocean. The Americas are a minor inconvenience, solved by the Panama Canal. It's getting back which is the issue - your have the disastrously weathered cape of good hope, or the pirate-infested Aden. It's quite ironic that if you want to sail around the world, it's the ancient routes that are the worst parts. If Columbus had discovered the Americans were an archipelago, or if the gulf of mexico had properly separated north and south, the discovery would have been a very popular trade route - even today.
        lonelappde 7y ago
        What if rising sea level puts Panama under water?

foobar_ 7y ago

My bad, I was just commenting on it because it seems like a very primitive model of physics developed by islanders. It makes me wonder why people are still debating about these things even if they are facts. Maybe it's because most people can hardly math. You can blame half the bullshit on conspiracy mongers. Damn though, engineering mishaps are bad :/