In ancient Greece they knew the world was round, so when and how did they lose that info between then and now?

Question

There is a sculpture of Atlas holding a round world on his back from ancient Rome. The romans even had the circumfrence close to what it is. But later in the renisance people thought the world was square. But awhile back we figured out that the world was round again. So my question is, when did we lose that information?

Answer 1

This happened after the fall Rome. A lot of knowledge was lost due to the fall of Rome. After the fall of Rome the world, Europe, went through the dark ages a time most people could not read or write. Then the Church took over and perpetuated the whole mess by encouraging the so-called common people to remain in the dark ages and when anybody challenged the standard's they were called heretics and burned or imprisoned. Galileo proposed that the Earth revolved around the sun instead of the sun revolving around the Earth and he was tortured and imprisoned until he recanted.

Answer 2

First off, educated people knew that the world was round. You can see the roundness on any ship at sea.

Columbus thought that the world was round, like an orange, but in fact it was much larger (think grapefruit). There are only three continents mentioned in the Bible (Asia, Africa, Europe) and so Columbus thought that that was all there were. He was, of course, wrong.

The Greeks, as you say, knew it was round and also how large it was. This was done by Greeks measuring shadows at different points in the Egyptian desert several centuries before Christ.

A book about this was surely in the Great Library of Alexandria, which was the capital of Hellinistic (Greek) Egypt and the center of learning for the ancient world during the period 300 BC-200 AD, roughly.

A mob of Christians, who believed that the world was coming to an end is said to have destroyed the Library around 200 AD. The librarian at the time was one of few female philosophers, a woman named Hypatia. Do a Google on Alexandria Library Hypatia for more about this.

Answer 3

I agree with those of the previous answerers who say that this information was never actually lost. However, from about 400 AD to 1200 AD - through the "Dark Ages" and the early Mediaeval period - there were very few people who had access to even the simplest kind of scientific knowledge like this.

The Greeks and Romans had slaves who could write, and copy out manuscripts, so books weren't scarce in their times. But after the fall of the Roman Empire, this stopped. The monasteries became almost the only places which had the time and ability to produce handwritten books, and most of those were bibles or biographies of saints. Most of the scientific knowledge of the Greeks and Romans was rediscovered through Arabic copies, starting around 1200 AD.

Answer 4

People since the times of ancient Greece and perhaps before knew that the world was round. We never lost that information. We were told in school that Columbus discovered that the world was round. That is false. I believe it was Washington Irving who wrote a biography of Columbus and falsely credited him for discovering that the earth is round.

Answer 5

Sorry, you're talking nonsense. People in the Middle Ages thought the world was round as well - you can see it in Dante.
Square world? What have you been smoking?

Answer 6

With the fall of Rome and the rise of the Catholic church many truths were forgotten and suppressed Ya know the dark ages!

Answer 7

Eratosthenes became a Greek logician who believed the international became around, yet i do no longer comprehend if it became broadly time-honored returned then. perchance later artists depicted Atlas like that. or in step with risk the classic Romans did.

Answer 8

Correction to countsoss..... It was Copernicus who proposed that the earth revolved around the sun. He died before he could be accused of heresy. Gallileo did experiments to prove this theory and taught it in his classes, and was, therefore, tried for heresy.

Answer 9

When all the ships fell off the edge of the world.