21. POSIDONIUS De Rhodes Translate this page posidonius de rhodes 135 – 51 av JC. posidonius de rhodes est aussiconnu sous le nom de posidonius d’Apameia en Syrie. Apameia http://coll-ferry-montlucon.pays-allier.com/posidoni.htm

POSIDONIUS de Rhodes av J.C. Posidonius de Rhodes est aussi connu sous le nom de Posidonius d’Apameia en Syrie. Apameia étant sa ville de naissance tandis que Rhodes est la cité où il a enseigné. Bien que né en Syrie, Posidonius était d’origines grecques et c’est dans cette tradition qu’il fut élevé. Ce fut d’ailleurs à Athènes qu’il acheva son éducation auprès d’un philosophe stoïcien (Panaetius). Posidonius effectua de nombreux voyages en Méditerranée occidentale et il en profita pour parfaire ses connaissances dans des domaines aussi variés que l’Astronomie, la Météorologie, la Géographie et la Géologie. Aux alentours de l’année 100 avant J.C. il assura la direction de l’école stoïcienne de Rhodes. Conjointement à cette charge, il joua un rôle politique important dans l’île. C’est ainsi qu’en 87-86 avant J.C. il se retrouva nommé ambassadeur de Rhodes à Rome. Pendant son séjour dans la Cité Eternelle, il retrouva Cicéron qui avait été un de ses élèves. Il y rencontra aussi le général Gaius Marius ainsi que Pompée qui s’intéressait tout particulièrement à la tradition grecque. D’ailleurs Pompée maintiendra ses relations avec lui et lui rendra souvent visite à Rhodes. Au cun des travaux de Posidonius n’a survécu mais les références qu’en font plusieurs auteurs permettent de savoir qu’il apporta une légère contribution aux Mathématiques pures en précisant quelques « définitions ».

22. List_scient posidonius de rhodes.Pythagore de Samos. Pythéas de Massalia. Sosigène d Alexandrie. Speusippe de ***. http://coll-ferry-montlucon.pays-allier.com/l_scient.htm

Alkmaion de Crotone Anaxagore de Clazomènes Alkmaion de Crotone Anaxagore de Clazomènes ... d'Elée

23. Distance Measurements posidonius was a student of Panaetius of rhodes. He was a stoic withmany influential friends. His pupils were Cicero and Pompey. http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/Distances.htm

Distance Measurements Eratosthenes Eratosthenes (ca. 276 - 197 BC ) knew that a deep vertical well near Syene , in southern Egypt, was entirely lit up by the sun at noon once a year (the day of the summer solstice - 21 June). Eratosthenes reasoned that at this time the sun must be directly overhead , with its rays shining directly into the well. In Alexandria, almost due north of Syene, he knew that the sun was not directly overhead at noon on the same day because a vertical object cast a shadow. Eratosthenes could now measure the circumference of the earth by making two assumptions - that the earth is round and that the sun's rays are parallel He set up a vertical post at Alexandria and measured the angle of its shadow when the well at Syene was completely sunlit. Eratosthenes knew from geometry that the size of the measured angle equaled the size of the angle at the earth's center between Syene and Alexandria. He obtained a earth circumference of 50 x 5000 stadia = 250000 stadia or 39300 km, if 1 stadium = 157.5 m.

24. ATHENRY igustus) at Apollonia, and was a pupil of posidonius at rhodes. H; ibsequently he appears to have travelled sti is a son of Alexander of rhodes, whom he helped in http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/A/AT/ATHENRY.htm

ATHENRY Justin, but hardy the works ot Aristicies or Tatian. tlis Ir( eology is strongly tinged with Platonism, and this may account si his falling into desuetude. His discussion of the Trinity has roe points of speculative interest, but it is not sufficiently th rked out; he regards the Son as the Reason or Wisdom of the an ~ther, and the Spirit as a divine effluence. On some other pr ints, as the nature of matter, the immortality of the soul and th e principle of sin, his views are interesting. co EDITI0Ns.J. C. Th. Eg. de Otto, Corpus Apol. Christ. Saec. II. su I. vii. (Jena, 1857); E. Schwartz in Texte find Unlersuchungen, et 2 (Leipzig, I89I). rn the wars ot the ludor period, culminating in a successful ge by Red Hugh ODonnell in 1596. ATHENODORUS ATHENS

25. Antikythera be produced in rhodes which was considered technological advanced and had the knowledgesupported by scientists like Hipparchus or posidonius from rhodes. http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/Kythera.htm

In 1900 Greek sponge drivers discovered an astonishingly intricate mechanism in Antikythera, an island near Crete. A Greek sponge diver, Elias Stadiatos, discovered the wreck of a cargo ship Antikythera Archimedes and they also could be used for educational and research purposes Some consider that it could be produced in Rhodes which was considered technological advanced and had the knowledge supported by scientists like Hipparchus or Posidonius from Rhodes. Also machines like the repeating Catapult of Dionysius were products from Rhodes. Price for example considers some link of the device with Geminus from Rhodes. Compare this device with the Abacus used for calculations by the Greeks and Romans. Figure Abacus used for calculations by the ancient Greeks. Figure Abacus used for calculations by the Romans. The Abacus, Abax (latin), or Abaq (Sumeric), giving the general idea of an Algorithmic Unit (ALU) of a computer, is coming in use in the far east. Abaq or Abax stands for dust. Thus using the Abax or Abaq meant writing in dust. The Abax serves as a means to calculate, it is a flat stone or wooden tabletop in which are carved straight lines. Calculations are done using little pebbles, and it is assumed that the various pebbles represent different values. In much later times (approximately 800 AD), the Abax showed up in Europe. Built around 87 B.C.

26. ATHENRY life. He taught the young Octavian (afterwards so igustus) at Apollonia,and was a pupil of posidonius at rhodes. H; ibsequently http://24.1911encyclopedia.org/A/AT/ATHENRY.htm

ATHENRY Justin, but hardy the works ot Aristicies or Tatian. tlis Ir( eology is strongly tinged with Platonism, and this may account si his falling into desuetude. His discussion of the Trinity has roe points of speculative interest, but it is not sufficiently th rked out; he regards the Son as the Reason or Wisdom of the an ~ther, and the Spirit as a divine effluence. On some other pr ints, as the nature of matter, the immortality of the soul and th e principle of sin, his views are interesting. co EDITI0Ns.J. C. Th. Eg. de Otto, Corpus Apol. Christ. Saec. II. su I. vii. (Jena, 1857); E. Schwartz in Texte find Unlersuchungen, et 2 (Leipzig, I89I). rn the wars ot the ludor period, culminating in a successful ge by Red Hugh ODonnell in 1596. ATHENODORUS ATHENS

27. TMTh:: POSIDONIUS OF SYRIA The posidonius Equator posidonius fixed as the Equator of the earth the parallelpassing through rhodes, and calculated its length at 180,000 stades (32,400 http://www.tmth.edu.gr/en/aet/7/82.html

Home Ancient Greek Scientists AGRICULTURALISTS ARCHITECTS ... PHYSICISTS ASTRONOMER, GEOGRAPHER, METEOROLOGIST POSIDONIUS OF SYRIA (fl. 135 - 51 BC) Life Stoic philosopher with Neoplatonist tendencies, Posidonius was born in Apamea, in Syria. He studied in Athens, with Panaetius of Rhodes, before settling in Rhodes where he founded a school. Among those he taught were Cicero (77 BC) and Pompey (66BC). The last years of his life were spent in Rome. An eclectic, widely read and systematic scholar, Posidonius has been compared by many historians to Democritus and Aristotle. He travelled extensively, and used his voyages to make a systematic study of the geography of numerous countries in both the East and the West. He travelled to North Africa, the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands, to the shores of the Atlantic, to Britain and Germany, to the lands bordering the Adriatic, to Sicily and Sardinia, and to France, particularly the area around Massalia. His influence on philosophical thinking remained very powerful until the Middle Ages. Posidonius is considered a true representative of the spirit of the Hellenistic period. He is cited by Strabo and Suidas. Work His work included: A compendium of geographical and anthropological information on many different countries.

28. TMTh:: GEMINUS OF RHODES 110 40 BC) Life Geminus studied with posidonius at his school in Rhodesand wrote introductory works on astronomy and mathematics. http://www.tmth.edu.gr/en/aet/2/49.html

Home Ancient Greek Scientists AGRICULTURALISTS ARCHITECTS ... PHYSICISTS MATHEMATICIAN, ASTRONOMER, GEOGRAPHER GEMINUS OF RHODES (fl. 110 - 40 BC) Life Geminus studied with Posidonius at his school in Rhodes and wrote introductory works on astronomy and mathematics. A crater on the moon has been named in his honour, as has a group of shooting stars, the "geminids". Work His principal works are: "Introduction to phenomena": Extant. Detailed. Contains all the most important astronomical theories of the ancient world, treated in accordance with the system of Hipparchus. "Summary of the Posidonian Interpretation of Meteorological Phenomena": Fragments extant in Greek and Arabic. "On the classification of mathematics": History of mathematics. Fragments extant in Greek and Arabic. Divides pure mathematics into Arithmetic and Geometry, and applied mathematics into Accountancy, Surveying, Harmony, Optics, Mechanics and Astronomy. In his work Geminus continued the astronomic tradition which began with Eudoxus. Contact the Technology Museum

29. Imago Mundi - Posidonius. Translate this page posidonius, posidonius, philosophe stoïcien, né à Apamée, en Syrie,en 135 (ou 133?), mort à rhodes en 51 (ou 49?) av. JC Il http://www.cosmovisions.com/Posidonius.htm

Dictionnaire biographique Les gens Posidonius , Posidonius, philosophe Tusc De Natura Deorum , le De Fato , etc. Strabon Galien N. D. de 365 jours 1/4, explique les phases de la Lune par l'action des astres. L'astronomie de Posidonius Strabon et Pline [180 000 stades, selon Bouillet une distance de 2 millions de stades au Soleil une distance de 500 millions. des astres. (Hoefer, 1873). A l'imitation d' scolastiques Gerbert et de son contemporain Antiochus d'Ascalon morale Aristote Platon un homme divin (Proclus in Parm ., VI., IV, 25). Il estime Pythagore nous thumos epithumia epithymia ; les animaux ont, en outre, le thymos platonisme et le Divination, sur le Destin sur la Nature des Dieux, Posidonii Rhodii reliquiae, accedit Wytlenbachii annotatio Fragm. hist. Graec .; Paris, 1819, p. 215). Ses fragments historiques se trouvent dans le t. III des de la collection Didot. Delambre Histoire de l'astronomie ancienne . - Ed. Zeller, Die Philos. der Griechen , IV. pp..572 et suiv. - A. Dyroff, Die Etik der atten sto a; Berlin, 1897. - Thiaucourt, ; Paris, 1885.

30. Imago Mundi - Panétius. Translate this page les plus célèbres sont QM Scevola, Sextus Pompée, les Balbus, Mnésarque, sonsuccesseur à Athènes, Démétrius de Bithynie, Hécaton, posidonius de rhodes http://www.cosmovisions.com/Panetius.htm

Dictionnaire biographique Les gens Panaetius , disciple des et Antipater sur le Devoir , dont s'est beaucoup servi pour le De officiis De officiis ministrorum de S. Ambroise; sur les sectes philosophiques sur la mantique , que rappelle en certains endroits le De divinatione sur la politique sur la Providence De natura Deorum Posidonius de Rhodes qui traite des rapports de Dieu et de l'humain. Puis il se recommande de Platon et d' Aristote , de , de pour s'attacher au Ep Plotin romain. (F. Picavet). - Van Lynden, De Panaetio Rhodio , Leyde, 1802. - Ed. Zeller, Die Philosophie der Griechen , IV, p. 500 et Suiv. - Thiaucourt, , Paris, 1885. - L. Stein, Die Psychologie, die Erkenntnistheorie der Stoa ; Berlin 1886-86.- Schmeckel, Die Philosophie der mittlere Stoa ; Berlin, 1892. A B C D ... Z

31. Slde #114 Monograph Then posidonius (according to Cleomedes), noting that Canopus was seen just onthe horizon at rhodes but rose as far as a quarter of a zodiacal sign (7.5 http://www.henry-davis.com/MAPS/Ancient Web Pages/114mono.html

Slide #114 TITLE: Posidonius' World Map DATE: 150-130 B.C. AUTHOR: Posidonius (Petrus Bertius) DESCRIPTION: This slide shows a 1630 reconstruction by Petrus Bertius (Pieter Bert) of the world view of the Greek philosopher Posidonius who proposed that the earth was sling-shaped, broad in the middle, with tapered ends and an estimated circumference that was three-quarters of its true size, resulting in an oikumene [inhabited world] that stretched half way around a globe. The Bertius reconstruction, published in his Ancient Geography (Paris, 1630), represents a literal interpretation of Posidonius' "sling", complete with looped handles. The better-known contemporary of Theodosius, Posidonius(ca. 135-51/50 B.C.),is generally associated with his measurement of the circumference of the earth. By some scholars, who view the history of mapping as mainly concerned with the diagnosis of increasing accuracy, this measurement has been "deemed disastrous in the history of geography." Depending on the value of the stade that is adopted, it may be true that Posidonius, seeking to improve on Eratosthenes, underestimated the size of the earth, and this measurement, copied by Ptolemy, was thereafter transmitted to Renaissance Europe. But Posidonius clearly did more than measure the earth: such was his reputation as an educator that Strabo described him as "one of the most learned philosophers in our time." He was born in Apamea in Syria; after traveling widely in the western Mediterranean countries and visiting Rome on several occasions, he established himself in Rhodes, where he opened a school. This was patronized by distinguished visitors, including Pompey, the Roman general and statesman, and Cicero, from whom some of our knowledge of Posidonius derives. It was also at Rhodes that he constructed a planetarium in the style of Archimedes, intended for teaching students the laws of the cosmos. Cicero describes "the orrery recently constructed by our friend Posidonius, which at each revolution reproduces the same motions of the sun, the moon and the five planets that take place in the heavens every twenty-four hours."

32. Slide #115 Monograph Although Pythæs, Eratosthenes, and perhaps posidonius had fixed its northern limiton celestial arctic circle constructed for the latitude of rhodes (36° N http://www.henry-davis.com/MAPS/Ancient Web Pages/115mono.html

Slide #115 TITLE: Strabo's World Map DATE: A.D. 18 AUTHOR: Strabo DESCRIPTION: This slide shows a 19th century reconstruction of the world view of the Greek philosopher Strabo who wrote his famous geography at the beginning of the Christian era and compiled his map from travelers' reports and the "writings" of ancients. The now lost map by Strabo represented the sum total of cartographic knowledge before the Christian Era. The contribution of Strabo as a scholar of great stature as philosopher, historian, and geographer, epitomizes the continuing importance of the Greek intellectual heritage - and contemporary practice - to the development of cartography in the early Roman world. As the reviser of Eratosthenes, he also illustrates the continuous way later generations had built on the cartographic concepts first clearly set out in the Hellenistic Age We are fortunate in possessing all seventeen books of the Geographia by Strabo, written in good Greek although he himself was mixed Asiatic and Greek stock; it is through his writings that most of our knowledge of Eratosthenes' mapping has come down. He was born at Amasia [Amasya] in Pontus in 64 or 63 B.C. Strabo was educated at Nysa near Tralles in Caria and in 44 B.C. went to Rome, where he studied under the Phoenician freedman Tyrannio and the Stoic philosopher Athenodorus. He showed himself a keen supporter of Augustus and visited Rome several times. From about 25 to 20 B.C. he was in Egypt, based at Alexandria. His Geographia

33. Posidonius He settled in rhodes after extensive travels. Noted for his learning, Posidoniusgave new life to Stoicism by fortifying it with contemporary learning. http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0839862.html

HOTWORDS CITE PRINT EMAIL in All Infoplease Almanacs Biographies Dictionary Encyclopedia Home Almanacs Atlas Dictionary ... D-Day Infoplease Tools Periodic Table Conversion Tool Perpetual Calendar Year by Year ... Site Map Also from Infoplease Search Infoplease Info search tips Search Biographies Bio search tips Encyclopedia Posidonius [p O s E d O E u s] Pronunciation Key Posidonius c. 135 c. 51 B.C. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Posen Posillipo Related content from HighBeam Research on: Posidonius History Of Herodotus, The: Part III (History of the World) Reason and Emotion: Essays on Ancient Moral Psychology and Ethical Theory.(Review) (The Review of Metaphysics) Martha Nussbaum and Thomas Aquinas on the emotions. (Theological Studies) Fate, fortune, chance, and luck in Chinese and Greek: a comparative semantic history. (Philosophy East and West) History Of Religions: Chapter II (History of the World) (book review) (Folklore) Past presents: New year's gifts at the Valois courts, CA. 1400. (The Art Bulletin) (book reviews) (The Review of Metaphysics) Tides: Part I (Great Works of Literature) Apocrypha, The: Chapter 14

34. Theosophy Library Online - Great Teacher Series - POSIDONIUS OF APAMEA scientists went into exile at rhodes, where a famous school of rhetoric flourished.The cosmopolitan atmosphere of the area appealed to posidonius, who found http://theosophy.org/tlodocs/teachers/PosidoniusOfApamea.htm

POSIDONIUS OF APAMEA There are never any occasions when you need think yourself safe because you wield the weapons of Fortune: fight with your own. Fortune does not furnish arms against herself and so men equipped against their foes are unarmed against Fortune herself. Seneca, Epistle 113 POSIDONIUS After Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, Athens gradually ceased to be the philosophical centre of the Mediterranean world. Her importance as a city of learning remained for centuries, but the diffusion of culture, the rise of Alexandria and the growth of Roman power overshadowed the political and economic importance of the polis When the Athenians sent a deputation to Rome to seek relief from a fine imposed upon them, the Stoic Diogenes of Seleucia was a member, along with a Peripatetic and a Sceptic. Cato disliked all of them because their philosophical attitudes tended to diminish the importance of military virtue. Nonetheless, the seeds of Stoic thought were sown in Rome and found fertile ground there. Panaetius of Rhodes, a wealthy man who had studied at the grand library at Pergamum under its head, Crates the Stoic, became a student of Diogenes in Athens. Within a decade of the deputation, Panaetius journeyed to the political centre of the empire. He met and became fast friends with Scipio the Younger, and soon scholars and intellectuals formed a circle around them. Panaetius remained in Rome until the death of Scipio, then he returned to Athens and assumed leadership of the Stoic school.

35. Anciens P rhodes. Cf. EPUIII. également posidonius Rhodius et hist. Élève de Panétius de rhodes. http://callimac.vjf.cnrs.fr/RSPA/Anciens/Anciens_P.html

Textes Auteurs modernes Accueil Auteurs anciens P Auteurs anciens Qualificatifs et commentaires Datation Paeonius Atheniensis megar.. - TLG Pamphila Epidauria hist. Panaetius Rhodius -185 ca - -105 ca Panthoides Atheniensis Papyri Herculanenses Paraebates Parmenides Eleaticus ... Parmeniscus, vel Parmiscus, Metapontinus pythag. Paron Pasicles Thebanus, Atheniensis Pasiphon Eretrius socrat. Periander Corinthius phil.. - Voir aussi Septem sapientes Persaeus Citieus Petron Himeraeus Phaedo Elidensis Phaedondes socrat. Phaedrus socrat. Phaedrus Epicureus -140 ca - 70 Phaenias (vel Phanias) Eresius Pherecydes Syrius Philippus Megarensis, Atheniensis Philiscus Aeginensis Philo Atheniensis Philo Larissaeus -144 ca - -80 ca Philodemus (pseudo) epic. Philodemus Gadarensis -110 ca - -40 ca Philolaus Crotoniensis, vel Tarentinus -470 ca - -390 ca Philonides Syrius Philostratus Atheniensis 165 ca - 244/249 Phrasidemus Atheniensis Plato phil. Plotinus 205-270 ca Plutarchus (pseudo) . - Sous cette appellation se cachent les auteurs de : De musica, Placita philosophorum, De fluviis, Vita Homeri Polemo Laodicensis soph.

36. Anciens G Translate this page Gellius (Aulus G.), . - Élève du platonicien Calvisius Taurus. Influencé parson ami Favorinus. Geminus, stoic.. - de rhodes ? Disciple de posidonius ? http://callimac.vjf.cnrs.fr/RSPA/Anciens/Anciens_G.html

Textes Auteurs modernes Accueil Auteurs anciens G Auteurs anciens Qualificatifs et commentaires Datation Galenus (pseudo) Gellius (Aulus G.) Geminus Gorgias Leontinus -485 ca - -380 ca A B C D ... Z

37. Posidonius - Encyclopedia Article About Posidonius. Free Access, No Registration . Click the link for more information. . posidonius was a studentof Panaetius of rhodes. He was a stoic Stoicism is a school http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Posidonius

Dictionaries: General Computing Medical Legal Encyclopedia Posidonius Word: Word Starts with Ends with Definition Posidonius 135 BC Centuries: 3rd century BC - 2nd century BC - 1st century BC Decades: 180s BC 170s BC 160s BC 150s BC 140s BC - 130s BC - 120s BC 110s BC 100s BC 90s BC 80s BC Years: 140 BC 139 BC 138 BC 137 BC 136 BC - 135 BC - 134 BC 133 BC 132 BC 131 BC 130 BC Events Births Sima Qian, Chinese historian (or 145) Posidonius of Apamea, Greek philosopher (+ 51 B.C.) Click the link for more information. 51 BC Centuries: 2nd century BC - 1st century BC - 1st century Decades: 100s BC 90s BC 80s BC 70s BC 60s BC - 50s BC - 40s BC 30s BC 20s BC 10s BC 0s BC Years: 56 BC 55 BC 54 BC 53 BC 52 BC 51 BC 50 BC 49 BC 48 BC 47 BC 46 BC Events Spring - Pharaoh Ptolemy XII of Egypt dies and is succeeded by his eldest surviving daughter Cleopatra VII of Egypt and her younger brother and co-ruler Ptolemy XIII of Egypt. Click the link for more information. ), was a Greek According to Thucydides, Hellenes were called the people of Hellas. Greek mythology states that were named after Hellene. A more scientific approach places the origin of the name in Epirus, the land of the Dorians, where people were called Selle or Helle. The spread of the worship of Zeus in the rest of Greece (the basis of which was in Dodoni), the Dorian tendency to form amfictionies and the increasing popularity of the Delphic religion lead to the use of the name in a way that denoted the people that today is known as Greeks (name originated from another Epirus tribe, the

38. De Anima: From Aristotle To Posidonius One of his students at rhodes was Cicero, and later, in 86 BCE, Posidoniusvisited Cicero in Rome while serving as an ambassador. http://www.societasviaromana.org/Collegium_Religionis/animaaristotle.htm

De Anima: from Aristotle to Posidonius by M. Moravius Horatius Piscinus INDEX INTRO COLLEGIA FORVM ... CONTACT document.write year(now) Societas Via Romana

39. Astrology In The Roman World 200 B.C. - 500 A.D. posidonius taught at his school on the Island of rhodes where among hispupils was the first major Roman astrologer, Nigidius Figulus. http://www.nickcampion.com/nc/history/roman.htm

Site Topics Home Free Horoscopes Astro-Live-Link Books Mundane Science Planets Education Question Links Site Search Contact Roman Astrology Extract taken from "An Introduction to the History of Astrology" © Nick Campion An Introduction to the History of Astrology Origins of Astrology Mesopotamia Ancient Greece ... China Rome Astrology in the Roman World 200 B.C. - 500 A.D. Divination had long been a part of the Italian life and religion before the importation of astrology to Rome in the 2nd century B.C. When the Romans discovered astrology some 1,400 years after the Venus Tablet of Amisaduqa, they took to it wholeheartedly and incorporated it into every aspect of their lives from religion to politics to day to day affairs. Astrology appealed to the masses on the level of fortune telling, and it is perhaps in Rome that astrology first developed its ‘fair-ground fortune teller’ side, as distinct from its religious and mystical uses. Astrology appealed to the priests as the perfect addition to the worship of planetary deities, and it accorded well with the philosophy of the intellectuals, already impressed by the fatalist Stoicism with its belief in ever recurrent cycles. The Romans took astrology and incorporated it into their religion, but astrologers were never too popular with the authorities. Of the philosophical exponents of astrology the Pythagoreans were banned from Rome, although the Stoics were acceptable on account of their less subversive appearance.

40. The Round Earth And Christopher Columbus that the Greek posidonius used the greatest height of the bright star Canopus abovethe horizon, as seen from Egypt and from the island of rhodes further north http://www-istp.gsfc.nasa.gov/stargaze/Scolumb.htm

Site Map (8) The Round Earth and Christopher Columbus Replica of the flagship of Columbus, sailing past the shuttle launch pad on Cape Canaveral. Today it is well known that the Earth is a sphere, or very close to one (its equator bulges out a bit because of the Earth's rotation). When Christopher Columbus proposed to reach India by sailing west from Spain, he too knew that the Earth was round. India was the source of precious spices and other rare goods, but reaching it by sailing east was difficult, because Africa blocked the way. On a round globe, however, it should also be possible to reach India by sailing west, and this Columbus proposed to do (he wasn't the first one to suggest thissee below). Sometimes the claim is made that those who opposed Columbus thought the Earth was flat, but that wasn't the case at all. Even in ancient times sailors knew that the Earth was round and scientists not only suspected it was a sphere, but even estimated its size. If you stand on the seashore and watch a ship sailing away, it will gradually disappear from view. But the reason cannot be the distance: if a hill or tower are nearby, and you climb to the top after the ship has completely disappeared, it becomes visible again. Furthermore, if on the shore you watch carefully the way the ship disappears from view, you will notice that the hull vanishes first, while the masts and sails (or the bridge and smokestack) disappear last. It is as if the ship was dropping behind a hill, which in a way is

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