Who discovered that the earth is not flat?

in #science7 years ago

varaha.jpg

We, the people of science will believe only if it is proved scientifically. But many things which are written in ancient texts prove to be correct when the humans discover it only recently.
For example, the question whether the earth is flat or round was a big question. Those who made the discovery had to sacrifice their life by the attack of non-believers. But later it was proved that earth is round.
Just go through Hindu religious texts. There is an Avatara of Lord Vishnu called Varaha. Varaha is carrying the sphere of earth lifted on its tusks. How is it possible that the ancient people knew that the earth is round?
There is no answer. But only one thing is clear: There are many things which are not yet discovered by the scintific community, but some of such things could already be there discovered by ancient people.

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How is it possible that the ancient people knew that the earth is round?
There is no answer.

Yes, there is an answer. If you measure the angle of the sunshine when the sun is at its highest point in the sky in two locations on the same day, you can calculate the Earth's curvature.

Eratosthenes did this in Alexandria around 250 BCE. He calculated 40,320 km. He was only in error by 290 km or ~0.7%. The learned have long understood that our planet is spheroidal.

Having said that, I agree that both astika and nastika Dharmic texts have displayed incredibly advanced scientific and spiritual understanding.

Also, I think that image is copyrighted. You can't earn money off of other people's copyrighted images. You should at the very least attribute where you found it.

It is true that Earth was known to be round already by the Greeks many centuries ago. However I would like to know the dates for those Indian texts! It would be really amazing to know whether they had discovered it first.

I understand they made lots of advancements in science.

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