Did they just assume the Earth was round or do they have exotic proof? If the Earth is round who made this accusation plausable?
2006-06-20 13:55:59 · 25 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Geography
I am curious what your alternate would be.
The Earth is not "perfectly" round but it is round.
2006-06-20 20:36:21 · answer #1 · answered by Poutine 7 · 4⤊ 0⤋
Because today you have satellites that can watch the earth in a same way as we watch the moon. However, in the past there was no such technogoly and people thought that world was indeed flat. Luckly, some genius minds saw that earth is not flat but round. They observed the ship as it left and as it approached the port. If you actually look at the ship moving away from you, you will see that the front is hid first and then the tail given the condition that the ship is slightly to a side of your view. Otherwise, if the ship is comming toward you, the front is shown first and then the tail. This indicated that world was round and there was proof for it. You can also see this yourself. The planes seem as if they are falling towards the ground even if they are going in a straight line.
2006-06-20 18:15:28 · answer #2 · answered by shkabaj 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
As we all know, the Earth was once thought to be flat. Many explorers proved this incorrect. Ferdinand Magellan set out to sail around the world. Although he died, his crew did make it all the way around. Since they did not fall off the end of the Earth, we can be sure that is has no flat sides or corners. Now, we do also have pictures from space (see how useful the Space Race was?) that can prove this. Now, I would like to correct Alicia F. The Earth is round, while it is not a perfect circle (yes, there are bumps on the surface, but the surface is relativley smooth overall). Something being round does not mean it is a perfect circle, if that is what she (I'm guessing) meant. ex: an ellipse is considered round, but it is not a circle. Shapes can corners that are rounded; this does not mean that each corner is a circle.
2006-06-20 14:03:43 · answer #3 · answered by Riiken Ultima 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
well there are several ways to determine that the earth is round... the earliest of observations included watching sailing ships come UP over the horizon.. without curvature of the earth objects on ocean horizon would simply get smaller, not move down out of site... next would be the fact that the global has been cicumnavigated several times in multiple directions... that means we head out in one direction, and end up in the same place when travelling in a straight line.... next the observance of that every singular celestial body of any size in space is spherical in shape... it would be strange that the earth and only the earth was formed any differently... and finally we have produced and launched these things called satellites, and other space exploration vehicals which take pictures from space and provide us with photographs of the earth from every possible angle that once again shows that the earth is indeed spherical in formation
2006-06-20 14:03:26 · answer #4 · answered by Thomas P 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
technically, the earth is classified as an oblate spheroid. also, there is evidence from wind streams in the atmosphere, shadows of the earth on the moon and satellite pictures as well as the fact that if you start going east from new york city in a plane you'll eventually get back to new york city. us having seasons and different climate regions also proves that the earth is round, as these are caused by the areas having differences in the distance from the sun, proving that the earth cannot be flat.
2006-06-20 14:01:36 · answer #5 · answered by 'Blank' 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
When you stand at a dock at the ocean on a calm day anywhere in the world, the first part of a ship that you will see is the top. It will appear that it rises from the water. This is proof that at least there is a curve to the world. Since then, planes and boats have gone around the world.
2006-06-20 14:00:38 · answer #6 · answered by Brainy Buddah 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Pictures from satellites prove the earth is round.
2006-06-20 13:59:11 · answer #7 · answered by Maimee 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i heard they first launched a really big parabolic mirror into orbit around earth, then later just used an old telescope to look up and stare back at the earth. they noticed it still looked flat in the mirror so they traveled to the far-side of earth to look. but they couldn't see the mirror from way over there, so they said 'dang, it IS round'.
2006-06-20 14:08:59 · answer #8 · answered by Tom B 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I assume you crawled out from under a rock. No one has sailed or walked over the edge of the earth and the satellite photos are pretty telling.
2006-06-20 13:58:26 · answer #9 · answered by Mommymonster 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They used to believe the Earth was flat, Christopher Columbus!
The pictures from the moon to Earth and all other rockets and Shuttles prove this wrong!
2006-06-20 14:00:36 · answer #10 · answered by LN has3 zjc 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Now they have satellites, the men on the moon took pictures, things go into orbit in a circular motion. I suppose you think that the earth is flat?
2006-06-20 13:58:53 · answer #11 · answered by a_poor_misguided_soul 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋