Description

Book Synopsis


Neither Christopher Columbus nor his contemporaries thought the earth was flat. Yet this curious illusion persists today, firmly established with the help of the media, textbooks, teacherseven noted historians. Inventing the Flat Earth is Russell's attempt to set the record straight. He begins with a discussion of geographical knowledge in the Middle Ages, examining what Columbus and his contemporaries actually did believe, and then moves to a look at how the error was first propagated in the 1820s and 1830s and then snowballed to outrageous proportions by the late 19th century. But perhaps the most intriguing focus of the book is the reason why we allow this error to persist. Do we prefer to languish in a comfortable and familiar error rather than exert the effort necessary to discover the truth? This uncomfortable question is engagingly answered.

Inventing the Flat Earth is Jeffrey Burton Russell's attempt to set the record straight. He begins with

Table of Contents
Foreword by David Noble Preface The Well-Rounded Planet The Medieval Ball Flattening the Globe The Wrong Way Round Around the Corner Selected Bibliography Index Includes 26 B&W illustrations

Inventing the Flat Earth

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      Book details

      Publisher ABC-CLIO
      Published 1/30/1997 12:00:00 AM
      ISBN-13 9780275959043
      978-0275959043
      ISBN-10 027595904X
      Also in:
      Historiography

      Description

      Book Synopsis


      Neither Christopher Columbus nor his contemporaries thought the earth was flat. Yet this curious illusion persists today, firmly established with the help of the media, textbooks, teacherseven noted historians. Inventing the Flat Earth is Russell's attempt to set the record straight. He begins with a discussion of geographical knowledge in the Middle Ages, examining what Columbus and his contemporaries actually did believe, and then moves to a look at how the error was first propagated in the 1820s and 1830s and then snowballed to outrageous proportions by the late 19th century. But perhaps the most intriguing focus of the book is the reason why we allow this error to persist. Do we prefer to languish in a comfortable and familiar error rather than exert the effort necessary to discover the truth? This uncomfortable question is engagingly answered.

      Inventing the Flat Earth is Jeffrey Burton Russell's attempt to set the record straight. He begins with

      Table of Contents
      Foreword by David Noble Preface The Well-Rounded Planet The Medieval Ball Flattening the Globe The Wrong Way Round Around the Corner Selected Bibliography Index Includes 26 B&W illustrations

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