They knew this back then?!

[theswordmaiden]

"An eclipse of the moon occurred on 31 July. Having mentioned this event, it is as well to describe, for the uninformed, the nature of an eclipse. It is a failing or deficiency of the moon. An eclipse of the moon occurs as often as it falls under the shadow of the earth; for it (the moon) is said to have no light of its own, but is thought to be

Comments

[jordan179]

As you probably also know, the fact that the Earth was a sphere was discovered at least as early as Hellenistic times, and may have been known earlier. This was never forgotten by the educated, especially those who had studied any astronomy.

Christopher Columbus' famous argument with the scholars had to do with the size of the Earth (he thought its diameter was about 17,000 miles, they thought about 25,000 based on Eratosthenes). Ironically, he was wrong, and if the Americas hadn't fortuitously lain in his path, we would remember Columbus in a footnote to the Age of Discovery as "that imbecile who lost a squadron trying to cross the World-Ocean with only a few months' supplies on board."

[theswordmaiden]

That's right, I remember that ancient Greeks had figured out the shape and the size of the Earth. And you're right, Eratosthenes lived during the Hellenistic period. After having learned about that, it always annoyed me when people repeated the myth that Columbus was the first one to know that the Earth was round at all. This myth seems so widespread! I hope they don't teach it in grade school anymore.

It also makes better sense that people (who knew better) didn't attempt to sail westward to the Indies. If there was nothing but ocean until Asia, then it would have been too dangerous. Columbus was lucky.

I guess the fact is that even though medieval people were aware of the shape of the Earth, it just didn't concern them and their everyday lives.

I guess I was surprised that they also knew where the moon gets its light, and what causes a lunar eclipse! Quite fascinating. (though if I think about it some more, maybe I won't be so surprised)

I appreciate your comments!