Book description
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, teachers-even noted historians. Inventing the Flat Earth is Russell's attempt to set the record straight. He begins with a discussion of geographical knowledge in…
Why read it?
1 author picked Inventing the Flat Earth as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
We are still living in the aftermath of the myth that before the age of modern science, people believed that the Earth was flat. I was taken by surprise to find how utterly mistaken this is and that nineteenth-century writers were the ones who propagated this false idea. It is usually coupled with the notion that in former times, folk believed both in a flat earth and in religion, but that nowadays, people believe in neither.
This is all nonsense, and I was delighted to read the proper historical story in this excellently written book. Christopher Columbus and his associates…
From Peter's list on science and religion with mutual support.
If you love Inventing the Flat Earth...
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The rediscovery of Aristotle's works by Christians in the libraries of Muslim Spain set off an intellectual and moral revolution in the Roman Catholic Church that, in many ways, launched the modern era. Rubenstein's book tells how a remarkable series of characters, including Peter Abelard, Thomas Aquinas, and William of…
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