Why is the world flat?

Answer 1

It is not! Although in ancient times, those stating the world was round were ridiculed, laughed at and in some instances thrown out of the science community.

The world appears to be flat from the ground level, because it is huge. It is not easy to spot that it is curved because the curve is so gradual. We can, however, tell that it is curved with some observations. When at sea, watch a ship coming over the horizon: the top part appears first, then gradually the rest comes into view. If the earth was flat, that would mean that it had started underwater. But really, it's just been coming over a curved surface towards you.

The ancient Greeks knew that the world was round, and Eratosthenes of Cyrene measured the circumference in the 2nd Century BCE. He calculated it was about 39,690 miles. Which is within 1% of the real size.

Contrary to popular belief, after the 4th Century BCE, there was no widespread belief among European scientists that the Earth is flat: all sailors knew different because of how ships appear over the horizon, for a start.

Also, the scientists had access to the writings of the Greeks, which showed very clearly that not only could you prove that the Earth is round, but also told them how to measure it.

Some people still insisted, but these people were not taken very seriously.

It's not actually flat, It's round, but the gravitational pull keeps us from falling.

In fact, people already started debating whether the world is flat in the Renaissance era.

Answer 2

The Earth is not flat; it is a spherical shape. The misconception that the world is flat was debunked by scientists and explorers centuries ago through various observations, such as the curvature of the Earth's shadow during a lunar eclipse and the way ships disappear hull first over the horizon.