Originally Posted By: Dan_McI
Originally Posted By: OldBaldGuy
"...signing on as navigator might be a good move..."

Correct me if I'm wrong, but in 1000AD didn't they still think that the world was flat? That being the case, I suspect that you would have a hard time getting anyone to follow your directions. Thar be dragons ye know...


Some people may have thought so into the 16th Century, but the idea that the Earth is round has been around for a lot longer. Claudius Ptolemaeus, better known as Ptolemy, was working with projecting the spherical surface of the Earth onto flat maps, and he lived 100 - 178 A.D.


And if I recall correctly, an ancient Greek by the name of Eratosthenes measured the circumference of the Earth over 100 years BCE, getting a figure within a couple of percent of the true figure. The Greeks knew the earth was a sphere for several reasons, including the fact that ships sailing away from any point on the ocean (e.g. a stationary ship) seemed to 'sink' below the horizon at the same distance, (but did not sink). The only geometric shape for which this is true is a sphere. Also, the shape of the earth's shadow on the moon in an eclipse is a circle; a sphere casts a circle as a shadow. (Thanks to my high school science teacher, many many many years ago)
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