The uneducated masses assumed the world was flat anyone with even the equivalent of a elementary school education in medieval times understood it was a sphere…
Key-Store-9187 on
That myth is only around to make Columbus story feel special
[deleted] on
[deleted]
Flairion623 on
Columbus just thought the earth was way smaller than it actually is (and yes that counts. 1492 is still roughly medieval)
adonistop on
Eratosthenis a friend of archimidis and manager of the Alexandria library calculated the circumference of earth based on measurements of the angle of the shadows casted at midday on a place near the equator and a nother in the shame time in alexandria
ReyTrebol on
It’s a double myth, both the idea that people back then knew or didn’t knew that the earth is round are incorrect, it’s highly variable, depending on the people, the country, the actual century, etc
GSilky on
This meme and topic is becoming similar to people thinking the medieval people thought that the world was flat. In 50 years, that will be the focus. “Turn of the century people thought medieval people thought the world was flat” and below “meanwhile, people making memes about how they know medieval people didn’t think that because nobody thinks that anymore”
A_Banana_For_Scale_ on
What I’ve learned from this is that Aristotle was a bit of a G.
ReidWitt1 on
The thing they didn’t believe was a heliocentric system.
NotASandwich6746 on
They probably think that the pyramids were built by aliens too.
retecsin on
People at the beach or harbor watching ships disappear behind the horizon bottom first knew earth was round for millenia
jolhar on
Yes, a common misconception. But if you think about it, going back even further, humans never would have migrated out of Africa if we thought the Earth ended at the horizon.
ExtremlyFastLinoone on
It was only the europeans
Festivefire on
Anybody who was using a mercaterin projection for their map knew the earth was round.
Flashlight237 on
I had to look up literacy rates just to verify. While I’m not sure on the reliability of the source, apparently half the people in Europe are able to read in the middle ages, though much less are able to write: [https://www.historyofinformation.com/detail.php?entryid=3096](https://www.historyofinformation.com/detail.php?entryid=3096)
tensor-ricci on
Guess which fallacy
Morbid_Aversion on
…and how many ‘medieval people’ were fortunate enough to attend these universities?
Admiral45-06 on
It makes me laugh whenever people say ,,Medieval people believed X, unlike Romans!”
Except for religion and maybe social issues, vast majority of Medieval scientific thought was inherited from antiquity, including Ancient Greece and Rome. Romans knew the Earth is round, as they heard Aristotle theories, and thus so did Medieval scholars. Romans were far more superstitious and unscientific (and unhygienic) than we think.
handsomeboionly on
It’s surprisingly easy to prove the earth is round. If you were sent back in time far enough that could be your claim to fame. I’m not sure how far back though lol
Memeskindoff on
Aristotle wasn’t medieval I don’t think, he was before that in the period of classical antiquity
Tentacle_poxsicle on
Ok, who was actually taught that the earth was flat? I mean besides today
23 Comments
Aristotle really did his thing
The uneducated masses assumed the world was flat anyone with even the equivalent of a elementary school education in medieval times understood it was a sphere…
That myth is only around to make Columbus story feel special
[deleted]
Columbus just thought the earth was way smaller than it actually is (and yes that counts. 1492 is still roughly medieval)
Eratosthenis a friend of archimidis and manager of the Alexandria library calculated the circumference of earth based on measurements of the angle of the shadows casted at midday on a place near the equator and a nother in the shame time in alexandria
It’s a double myth, both the idea that people back then knew or didn’t knew that the earth is round are incorrect, it’s highly variable, depending on the people, the country, the actual century, etc
This meme and topic is becoming similar to people thinking the medieval people thought that the world was flat. In 50 years, that will be the focus. “Turn of the century people thought medieval people thought the world was flat” and below “meanwhile, people making memes about how they know medieval people didn’t think that because nobody thinks that anymore”
What I’ve learned from this is that Aristotle was a bit of a G.
The thing they didn’t believe was a heliocentric system.
They probably think that the pyramids were built by aliens too.
People at the beach or harbor watching ships disappear behind the horizon bottom first knew earth was round for millenia
Yes, a common misconception. But if you think about it, going back even further, humans never would have migrated out of Africa if we thought the Earth ended at the horizon.
It was only the europeans
Anybody who was using a mercaterin projection for their map knew the earth was round.
I had to look up literacy rates just to verify. While I’m not sure on the reliability of the source, apparently half the people in Europe are able to read in the middle ages, though much less are able to write: [https://www.historyofinformation.com/detail.php?entryid=3096](https://www.historyofinformation.com/detail.php?entryid=3096)
Guess which fallacy
…and how many ‘medieval people’ were fortunate enough to attend these universities?
It makes me laugh whenever people say ,,Medieval people believed X, unlike Romans!”
Except for religion and maybe social issues, vast majority of Medieval scientific thought was inherited from antiquity, including Ancient Greece and Rome. Romans knew the Earth is round, as they heard Aristotle theories, and thus so did Medieval scholars. Romans were far more superstitious and unscientific (and unhygienic) than we think.
It’s surprisingly easy to prove the earth is round. If you were sent back in time far enough that could be your claim to fame. I’m not sure how far back though lol
Aristotle wasn’t medieval I don’t think, he was before that in the period of classical antiquity
Ok, who was actually taught that the earth was flat? I mean besides today
‘Tis a peculiar use of “meanwhile”.