Quote:
That the earth is a sphere was known
to scholars since the dawn of history. The ancient Greek sculpture of the Farnese
Atlas shows him holding the globe on his shoulders. Pythagoras, Parmenides, Eudoxus,
Plato, Aristotle, Erastosthenes, Euclid, Aristarchus, Archimedes, Strato, Ptolemy, and the Talmudic sages all held the world to be a globe.
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It was known in Classical times, by the literate people, but it was almost forgotten in the Middle Ages.
Mind you, it wasn't easy to show that the world was spherical back then. They didn't have pictures from the space shuttle. Some believed in it just because the sphere was considered the most perfect 3-dimensional shape.