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Inventing the Flat Earth: Columbus and Modern Historians
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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 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 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―including how noted writers Washington Irving and Antoinne-Jean Letronne were among those responsible. He shows how later day historians followed these original mistakes, and how this snowball effect grew to outrageous proportions in the late nineteenth century, when Christians opposed to Darwinism were labelled as similar to Medieval Christians who (allegedly) thought the earth was flat. 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, and includes a discussion about the implications of this for historical knowledge and scholarly honesty.
- ISBN-10027595904X
- ISBN-13978-0275959043
- PublisherPraeger
- Publication dateJanuary 1, 1991
- LanguageEnglish
- Dimensions6.14 x 0.34 x 9.21 inches
- Print length160 pages
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Editorial Reviews
Review
?[Russell] has written a scholarly, yet very readable, investigation into [the "flat earth" myth's] background, origins, and consequences. This book also is well-documented and contains a good bibliography and numerous helpful illustrations. It can be of interest to scholars and other serious readers as well as to students in the classroom dealing with problems of medieval-modern intellectual history.?-Teaching History
?Inventing the Flat Earth is a well-written and thoroughly researched account of a fascinating topic. It is strongly recommended.?-Science & Christian Belief
?Russell conclusively shows how the 'flat earth' myth was concocted and popularized by Washington Irving and a French erudit and how the 'flat error' was declared by Darwininst historians, who compared the denial of Darwin's theory to Columbus's struggle for acceptance by his scholastic religious contemporaries. The book is a delightful, provocative, and persuasive interpretation about a myth that has flitted in and out of popular history.?- Colonial Latin American Historical Review
?Russell packs a punch in this slender, clearly written, and engagingly argued volume.?-Booklist
?This book is must reading for all Christians.?-Biblical Worldview
?This book is must reading for all Christians.??Biblical Worldview
"ÝRussell¨ has written a scholarly, yet very readable, investigation into Ýthe "flat earth" myth's¨ background, origins, and consequences. This book also is well-documented and contains a good bibliography and numerous helpful illustrations. It can be of interest to scholars and other serious readers as well as to students in the classroom dealing with problems of medieval-modern intellectual history."-Teaching History
"[Russell] has written a scholarly, yet very readable, investigation into [the "flat earth" myth's] background, origins, and consequences. This book also is well-documented and contains a good bibliography and numerous helpful illustrations. It can be of interest to scholars and other serious readers as well as to students in the classroom dealing with problems of medieval-modern intellectual history."-Teaching History
"Inventing the Flat Earth is a well-written and thoroughly researched account of a fascinating topic. It is strongly recommended."-Science & Christian Belief
"Russell packs a punch in this slender, clearly written, and engagingly argued volume."-Booklist
"This book is must reading for all Christians."-Biblical Worldview
"Russell conclusively shows how the 'flat earth' myth was concocted and popularized by Washington Irving and a French erudit and how the 'flat error' was declared by Darwininst historians, who compared the denial of Darwin's theory to Columbus's struggle for acceptance by his scholastic religious contemporaries. The book is a delightful, provocative, and persuasive interpretation about a myth that has flitted in and out of popular history."- Colonial Latin American Historical Review
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Product details
- Publisher : Praeger (January 1, 1991)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 160 pages
- ISBN-10 : 027595904X
- ISBN-13 : 978-0275959043
- Item Weight : 7 ounces
- Dimensions : 6.14 x 0.34 x 9.21 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #679,319 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #719 in Expeditions & Discoveries World History (Books)
- #1,620 in History (Books)
- #22,186 in Unknown
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Furthermore, the medieval people even knew how big the globe was—Columbus got that wrong—and how small it was compared with the universe. And in the late Middle Ages, scientist/clergy Buridan and Oresme even toyed with ideas that the earth rotates.
The idea that Columbus was the only round-earther against a multitude of flat-earthers is a lie fabricated by Washington Irving. Then 19th-century atheopathic propagandists like John Willam Draper and Andrew Dickson White spread this mendacity as part of their ‘conflict thesis’.
It's notable that the famous Stephen Jay Gould had nothing but praise for this book. It is also good to read its footnotes because there is plenty of supporting information and quotation.
Russell includes evidence both for and against his case, and raises crucial questions about the nature of the progress of knowledge and the interpretation of data. Well-written, easily read in an evening, and compelling. Highly recommended.
There were a few medieval "flat earthers," to be sure. Russell explains, though, that no one of any stature was influenced whatsoever by them, and especially not by Cosmas Indicopleustes, who has been given undue attention by writers eager to hold him up as typical of the period.
The ancient Greeks believed that the earth was a globe. Modern historians invented, and in some cases continue to teach, that this knowledge was suppressed by the Catholic church in the middle ages. According to Russell, the church did not stand athwart history yelling "Stop!" Augustine, Origen, and Bede, as well as other Christian intellectuals, acknowledged the sphericity of the earth.
People living in the middle ages, if they thought about such matters at all, could see that the earth was likely a sphere. After all, the hull of a ship disappeared over the horizon before the mast did. The stars also provided evidence that the world was not flat. Russell convincingly shows that the concept of a "dark age," during which the ancient Greek and Roman knowledge was lost, is pure fantasy and was promulgated by modern historians in part to make their own work at "reinterpreting" the classics seem more profound. The "Flat Error," as Russell calls it, was amplified over time as some intellectuals repeated the claim of earlier secondary sources without checking the primary sources for the evidence.
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`At the beginning of his book he quotes from current text-books used in American grade schools, high schools and colleges which insist that there was a consensus among medieval scholars from A.D. 300 to 1492 that the earth was flat. This also was the thesis of the influential historian Daniel Boorstin writing for a popular audience in his book, The Discoverers, published in 1983. Russell then uses his deep knowledge of medieval intellectual history to demonstrate that the opposite was true. It was conventional wisdom among both early-and late-medieval thinkers that the world was round'
Russel subjects the misconception and prejudice to the clear light of fact.
Firstly, he demonstrates that the academic (and religious) direction was always that the earth is a globe. There were a couple of flat-earthers and a few supporters on the way but a) they were ignored/ condemned as heretics at the time and b) guilibility was not invented in the 20th/21st century.
Then he explains how the misconception came to be - the main thrust being in the industrialised 19th century. Being an American author, most references are to other Americans.
Further - he offers suggestions as to why the Flat Error persists, despite more than adequate factual evidence to the contrary.
It's all contained in 77 pages - about the quantity that an interested non-specialist can cope with. The binding of the digital reprint technology edition, though, is awful - the pages fall out as soon as you bend the spine.
For further facts about medieval science try `God's philosophers - how the medieval world laid the foundations of modern schience' by James Hannam.