Obsession propels scholar on long, lonesome voyage [ Gunnar Thompson ]

Seattle Times ^ | Monday, June 18, 2007 | Ross Anderson

[SunkenCiv]

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[SunkenCiv]

Note: this topic is from 6/18/2007. This is a re-ping, because Menzies has another book out, even though this topic isn't really about Menzies. Also, it looks like an ideal Digest ping:

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Who Discovered America? The Untold History of the Peopling of the Americas by Gavin Menzies with Ian Hudson

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[Bernard Marx]

Greek mathematician Eratosthenes calculated the circumference of the Earth very accurately around 240 B.C. His figure of 25,000 miles was off about 100 miles from the modern calculation. There’s no question that educated ancients knew the Earth is a sphere. Eratosthenes was head Librarian at the great Library of Alexandria. A great deal of knowledge was lost when it was burned but Eratosthenes’ measurement was preserved and widely known.

[Sherman Logan]

The calculations of the Earth’s size by Eratosthenes and and Ptolemy differed considerably, with Ptolemy thinking it was something like 1/3 smaller.

The actual size calculated by either is debatable, since we aren’t sure of the exact length of the unit of measurement, the stadion, they used. There were several different stadions in use at the time.

Eratosthenes is highly accurate only if you make all possible assumptions in his favor, and the accuracy may be partly a matter of luck. But it was still an amazing feat of mental gymnastics, given the highly limited tech he had to work with.

Columbus believed Japan was only about 5000 kilometers from Europe, or claimed he did to get his financing, using figures closer to those of Ptolemy. The actual distance is about 20,000 kilometers.

IOW, Chris claimed Japan was about where the eastern Caribbean is. Had the Americas not been there, he and all his crew would have died long before they reached Asia. The Spanish government skeptics, using Eratosthenes figures, were actually correct.

[Grimmy]

I thought America was originally discovered by some guys from Clovis, CA?

[Bernard Marx]

The calculations of the Earth’s size by Eratosthenes and and Ptolemy differed considerably

I know all that, and you completely miss the essential point: both knew the Earth is spherical some 2,200 years ago.

[Sherman Logan]

I quite agree, as I’ve said on this thread several times.

The Chinese, until recent times, apparently believed the world was flat, perhaps because of the limited contact their intellectuals had with the sea.

But it’s probable all educated people in seafaring nations have for a very long time known the world is spherical.

[Katya]

I don’t know about the Chinese... but we have Viking settlements that anyone can go visit in Canada (L’Anse aux Meadows)that predate Columbus by more than four centuries...

[SunkenCiv]

Yep, and that’s just the one that’s (mostly) undisputed. Hard to believe but true, I’ve got an old book around (circa 1900) that begins with the Viking (re)discovery of America. :’) There was a martinet at the Smithsonian who spent most of his career smearing anyone who said there was any crossing before Columbus. Some people think he was just practicing rigorous scholarship, but he was merely a demagogue.