Flat Earth

This article is about the archaic conception of Earth's shape. For modern-day beliefs that the Earth is flat, see Modern flat Earth beliefs. For the historical misconception that people during the Middle Ages believed that the Earth was flat, see Myth of the flat Earth. For other uses, see Flat Earth (disambiguation).

Flat Earth is an archaic and scientifically disproven conception of the Earth's shape as a plane or disk. Many ancient cultures subscribed to a flat-Earth cosmography. The model has undergone a recent resurgence as a conspiracy theory in the 21st century.[1]

The idea of a spherical Earth appeared in ancient Greek philosophy with Pythagoras (6th century BC). However, the early Greek cosmological view of a flat Earth persisted among most pre-Socratics (6th–5th century BC). In the early 4th century BC, Plato wrote about a spherical Earth. By about 330 BC, his former student Aristotle had provided strong empirical evidence for a spherical Earth. Knowledge of the Earth's global shape gradually began to spread beyond the Hellenistic world.[2][3][4][5] By the early period of the Christian Church, the spherical view was widely held, with some notable exceptions. In contrast, ancient Chinese scholars consistently describe the Earth as flat, and this perception remained unchanged until their encounters with Jesuit missionaries in the 17th century.[6] Muslim scholars in early Islam maintained that the Earth is flat. However, since the 9th century, Muslim scholars have tended to believe in a spherical Earth.[7]

It is a historical myth that medieval Europeans generally thought the Earth was flat.[8] This myth was created in the 17th century by Protestants to argue against Catholic teachings, and gained currency in the 19th century.[9]

Despite the scientific facts and obvious effects of Earth's sphericity, pseudoscientific[10] flat-Earth conspiracy theories persist. Since the 2010s, belief in a flat Earth has increased, both as membership of modern flat Earth societies, and as unaffiliated individuals using social media.[11][12] In a 2018 study reported on by Scientific American, only 82% of 18- to 24-year-old American respondents agreed with the statement "I have always believed the world is round". However, a firm belief in a flat Earth is rare, with less than 2% acceptance in all age groups.[13]

  1. ^ Dunning, Brian. "The Flat Earth Theory". Skeptoid. Retrieved June 17, 2023.
  2. ^ "Romanische Literaturen I". Institut für Literaturwissenschaft (in German). Universität Stuttgart. n.d. Retrieved April 4, 2022.
  3. ^ Ragep, F. Jamil (2009). "Astronomy". Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE. doi:10.1163/1573-3912_ei3_COM_22652. Retrieved July 30, 2022.
  4. ^ Glick, Thomas F.; Livesey, Steven J.; Wallis, Faith (2005). Medieval science, technology, and medicine : an encyclopedia. Routledge encyclopedias of the Middle Ages, 11. New York: New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-96930-1. OCLC 61228669.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
  5. ^ Cullen, C. (February 1976). "A Chinese Eratosthenes of the Flat Earth: A Study of a Fragment of Cosmology in Huai Nan Tzu 淮南子". Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies. 39 (1). Cambridge University Press (published December 24, 2009): 106–127. doi:10.1017/s0041977x00052137. ISSN 0041-977X. S2CID 171017315. Retrieved April 4, 2022.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Cullen was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference Inventing Flat Earth was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Dr. James Hannam (May 18, 2010). "Science Versus Christianity?". Patheos. Archived from the original on December 2, 2023. The myth that people in the Middle Ages thought the earth is flat appears to date from the 17th century as part of the campaign by Protestants against Catholic teaching.
  10. ^ Foster, Craig (August 21, 2018). "Do People Really Think Earth Might Be Flat?". Retrieved February 8, 2024.
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference Ambrose was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference Dure was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ Craig A. Foster; Glenn Branch (August 21, 2018). "Do People Really Think Earth Might Be Flat?". Scientific American.
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