Many thanks to my godson for pointing out that the British Library confirmed much of what I had recently been writing about the myth that people used to think that the Earth was flat.
The presumably moderated comments further confirm that the idea goes back to Washington Irving's otherwise quite dull, but hugely popular, fictionalised life of Christopher Columbus.
And the suggestion that Saint Albert the Great must have had some concept of gravity is most intriguing. He died in 1280.
The comment about the wonderfully dotty Cosmas Indicopleustes is in fact by the man for whom I once stood at the font. As Stuart says, Cosmas had no formal education and consequently no influence, so his theories are of no more consequence than those of modern Flat Earth Societies. The central thesis stands.
Far too well-read for politics.
ReplyDeleteAnd did their pretty boy from the football team turn out to be any more electable?
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