On Sunday, November 15, 2015 at 7:18:26 PM UTC-5, Ed Huntress wrote:

The ancient Greeks knew the earth was roughly spherical, back to at
least the 4th century BC. That's what *we* learned.


Ed Huntress



But the consensus in the 4th century BC was that the earth was flat. It was only a few that believed the earth was spherical. If you learned that most greeks in the 4th century believed the earth was a sphere, then you had a poor school.

Dan

wrote in message
...
On Sunday, November 15, 2015 at 7:18:26 PM UTC-5, Ed Huntress wrote:

The ancient Greeks knew the earth was roughly spherical, back to at
least the 4th century BC. That's what *we* learned.


Ed Huntress



But the consensus in the 4th century BC was that the earth was flat.
It was only a few that believed the earth was spherical. If you
learned that most greeks in the 4th century believed the earth was a
sphere, then you had a poor school.

Dan

The flat earth is a poor example of the popular consensus being dead
wrong. Better ones are the Sun rotating around the Earth, Earth, Air,
Fire and Water as the four elements, heat being a physical substance,
bleeding as a cure for disease, Nature abhors a vacuum, and the
trajectory of a projectile is a straight line until it suddenly falls.
Let's please avoid arousing Bishop Ussher's numerous supporters.

Some more recent examples are N-Rays, the Aether, and Radium as a
miracle cure. When I studied Earth Science in the 50's it had no clue
what raised mountain ranges. The textbook's explanation was that the
weight of deep ocean trench sediments forced up coastal ranges like
the Andes.
http://www.scientus.org/Wegener-Continental-Drift.html

-jsw

On Sun, 15 Nov 2015 17:34:03 -0800 (PST), "
wrote:

On Sunday, November 15, 2015 at 7:18:26 PM UTC-5, Ed Huntress wrote:

The ancient Greeks knew the earth was roughly spherical, back to at
least the 4th century BC. That's what *we* learned.


Ed Huntress



But the consensus in the 4th century BC was that the earth was flat.

What makes you think that's true? You snipped out Chris's post:

"When I was in school, we learned that back then
the consensus (scientists paid by government)
was that the Earth was flat. Why they didn't try
to reach India by way of Atlantic Ocean."

Chris was talking about the consensus among "scientists," not
fishmongers. And how do you know what fishmongers in the 4th century
BC believed?

It was only a few that believed the earth was spherical. If you learned that most greeks in the 4th century believed the earth was a sphere, then you had a poor school.

Cites?

--
Ed Huntress


Dan

On Sunday, November 15, 2015 at 11:47:15 PM UTC-5, Ed Huntress wrote:


But the consensus in the 4th century BC was that the earth was flat.

What makes you think that's true?

I learned that in school. When The subject of the earth being a sphere came up, they always pointed out that someone believed it was a sphere even though the common belief was that it was flat.


You snipped out Chris's post:

So what. Please explain in detail why it is significant that I snipped out Chris's post. Otherwise I will assume your posting that was a diversionary tactic.


It was only a few that believed the earth was spherical. If you learned that most greeks in the 4th century believed the earth was a sphere, then you had a poor school.

Cites?

I do not remember the name of my fourth grade teacher, much less her source. You are the one saying that most Greeks believed the earth was a sphere. Where is your source? You made the claim, now back it up or admit you picked the idea out of the air.

Dan

--
Ed Huntress

On Mon, 16 Nov 2015 05:16:06 -0800 (PST), "
wrote:

On Sunday, November 15, 2015 at 11:47:15 PM UTC-5, Ed Huntress wrote:


But the consensus in the 4th century BC was that the earth was flat.

What makes you think that's true?

I learned that in school. When The subject of the earth being a sphere came up, they always pointed out that someone believed it was a sphere even though the common belief was that it was flat.

Too bad. The common people couldn't write. Maybe your teachers had
microchips implanted in their molars.

The common people didn't fund Columbus's voyage, either. Educated
people knew the earth was more-or-less spherical. They just didn't
agree on how big it was. And they didn't know about the continents
between Europe and Japan.



You snipped out Chris's post:

So what. Please explain in detail why it is significant that I snipped out Chris's post. Otherwise I will assume your posting that was a diversionary tactic.

As I said, you're slipping lately, Dan. You snipped it out AGAIN. Go
back and read it, and you'll see he was talking about why seafarers
didn't sail west. It's a load of crap. Seafarers knew full well that
the earth was spherical.



It was only a few that believed the earth was spherical. If you learned that most greeks in the 4th century believed the earth was a sphere, then you had a poor school.

Cites?

I do not remember the name of my fourth grade teacher, much less her source. You are the one saying that most Greeks believed the earth was a sphere. Where is your source? You made the claim, now back it up or admit you picked the idea out of the air.

I said no such thing. You aren't reading very carefully these days,
either.

--
Ed Huntress

"Ed Huntress" wrote in message
news
On Mon, 16 Nov 2015 05:16:06 -0800 (PST), "
wrote:

On Sunday, November 15, 2015 at 11:47:15 PM UTC-5, Ed Huntress
wrote:


But the consensus in the 4th century BC was that the earth was
flat.

What makes you think that's true?

I learned that in school. When The subject of the earth being a
sphere came up, they always pointed out that someone believed it was
a sphere even though the common belief was that it was flat.

Too bad. The common people couldn't write. Maybe your teachers had
microchips implanted in their molars.

The common people didn't fund Columbus's voyage, either. Educated
people knew the earth was more-or-less spherical. They just didn't
agree on how big it was. And they didn't know about the continents
between Europe and Japan.



You snipped out Chris's post:

So what. Please explain in detail why it is significant that I
snipped out Chris's post. Otherwise I will assume your posting that
was a diversionary tactic.

As I said, you're slipping lately, Dan. You snipped it out AGAIN. Go
back and read it, and you'll see he was talking about why seafarers
didn't sail west. It's a load of crap. Seafarers knew full well that
the earth was spherical.



It was only a few that believed the earth was spherical. If you
learned that most greeks in the 4th century believed the earth
was a sphere, then you had a poor school.

Cites?

I do not remember the name of my fourth grade teacher, much less her
source. You are the one saying that most Greeks believed the earth
was a sphere. Where is your source? You made the claim, now back
it up or admit you picked the idea out of the air.

I said no such thing. You aren't reading very carefully these days,
either.

--
Ed Huntress

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flat_Earth
"After the Greek philosophers Pythagoras, in the 6th century BC, and
Parmenides, in the 5th, recognized that the Earth is spherical, the
spherical view spread rapidly in the Greek world."

"By the 1st century AD, Pliny the Elder was in a position to claim
that everyone agrees on the spherical shape of Earth,..."

One reason was the Earth's curved shadow on the Moon during an
eclipse.

I'm on dialup because I don't have cable TV. Why can't those of you
with broadband look up and provide references to settle arguments?
-jsw

On Mon, 16 Nov 2015 12:54:51 -0500, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:

"Ed Huntress" wrote in message
news
On Mon, 16 Nov 2015 05:16:06 -0800 (PST), "
wrote:

On Sunday, November 15, 2015 at 11:47:15 PM UTC-5, Ed Huntress
wrote:


But the consensus in the 4th century BC was that the earth was
flat.

What makes you think that's true?

I learned that in school. When The subject of the earth being a
sphere came up, they always pointed out that someone believed it was
a sphere even though the common belief was that it was flat.

Too bad. The common people couldn't write. Maybe your teachers had
microchips implanted in their molars.

The common people didn't fund Columbus's voyage, either. Educated
people knew the earth was more-or-less spherical. They just didn't
agree on how big it was. And they didn't know about the continents
between Europe and Japan.



You snipped out Chris's post:

So what. Please explain in detail why it is significant that I
snipped out Chris's post. Otherwise I will assume your posting that
was a diversionary tactic.

As I said, you're slipping lately, Dan. You snipped it out AGAIN. Go
back and read it, and you'll see he was talking about why seafarers
didn't sail west. It's a load of crap. Seafarers knew full well that
the earth was spherical.



It was only a few that believed the earth was spherical. If you
learned that most greeks in the 4th century believed the earth
was a sphere, then you had a poor school.

Cites?

I do not remember the name of my fourth grade teacher, much less her
source. You are the one saying that most Greeks believed the earth
was a sphere. Where is your source? You made the claim, now back
it up or admit you picked the idea out of the air.

I said no such thing. You aren't reading very carefully these days,
either.

--
Ed Huntress

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flat_Earth
"After the Greek philosophers Pythagoras, in the 6th century BC, and
Parmenides, in the 5th, recognized that the Earth is spherical, the
spherical view spread rapidly in the Greek world."

"By the 1st century AD, Pliny the Elder was in a position to claim
that everyone agrees on the spherical shape of Earth,..."

One reason was the Earth's curved shadow on the Moon during an
eclipse.

I'm on dialup because I don't have cable TV. Why can't those of you
with broadband look up and provide references to settle arguments?
-jsw

I sympathize with your dialup situation, but there are two issues:
Solid references are no assurance that the knuckle-draggers will stop
their nonsense. They'll attack the references instead. And secondly,
sometimes it's better to let them dig themselves in deeper before
delivering the coup de grce. d8-)

--
Ed Huntress