In which year was it discovered that the world was round rather than flat?

peachie470

no one is for sure who made the discovery but Aristotle (384-322 BC) said that it was common knowledge, at least among the learned, so it's been known for at least 2,500 years Sep 23 07, 4:55 PM

lanfranco

People have recognized that Earth was spherical for millennia -- dating back to the 9th/8th centuries BCE, though I can't give you a specific year. This site offers some information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spherical_Earth Sep 23 07, 4:57 PM

boghat

The world was not discovered to be round and spherical rather than flat in any one year or any spectacular revelation. It was gradually accepted by more and more philosophers, scientists, and other intellectuals until it was eventually accepted by the populace at large when distribution of information became easier. Here is some key figures in the early development of a spherical Earth from Wikipedia: "Yajnavalkya Yajnavalkya (c. 9th–8th century BCE) recognized that the Earth is spherical in his astronomical text Shatapatha Brahmana. This is also recognized in another Vedic Sanskrit text Aitareya Brahmana composed around the same time, and in a later Sanskrit commentary Vishnu Purana. Pythagoras Pythagoras (b. 570 BCE) found harmony in the universe and sought to explain it. He reasoned that Earth and the other planets must be spheres, since the most harmonious geometric form was a circle. Plato Plato (427 BCE - 347 BCE) travelled to southern Italy to study Pythagorean mathematics. When he returned to Athens and established his school, Plato also taught his students that Earth was a sphere. If man could soar high above the clouds, Earth would resemble "a ball made of twelve pieces of leather, variegated, a patchwork of colours."" The two theories: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spherical_Earth http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flat_Earth Key figures of the development of the spherical Earth: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yajnavalkya http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pythagoras http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plato http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristotle http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eratosthenes http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claudius_Ptolemy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aryabhata Sep 23 07, 5:01 PM

star_gazer

Sailors have long since known the world to be round based on the horizens they would see. Sep 23 07, 8:17 PM