Subject: [HM] Flat earth fallacy
From: Vassilis Kyrtatas (vkyrt@aurora.eexi.gr)
Date: Mon Feb 21 1994 - 15:26:54 EST
Hello,
I wonder whether your Historia Matematica list is the right place to seek
advice about the following problem:
It is not uncommon to read in pre-university student essays that "people
once believed that the earth is flat" and even that "people who suggested
otherwise were burnt at the stake". I find this very disturbing.
1. Is it true that people in the Middle Ages actually believed such a thing?
2. If so, would such flat earthers include scientists and other scholars?
3. Is it possible that the wisdom of people like Ptolemy, Eratosthenes,
Aristotle, all of who believed that the Earth is spherical, was lost in the
Middle Ages?
4. Where do students get this factoid from? Why do they confuse geocentrism
with flat earth? Do they seriously think that Columbus discovered that the
Earth is not flat?
Thank you for your time,
Vassilis Kyrtatas
Mathematics teacher
Athens, Greece
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