Cristopher Columbus is well known as an Italian explorer, navigator, and colonizer. Born in the early 1450s in the Republic of Genoa, Italy, he is on record to have finished various voyages across the Atlantic Ocean. It is from such voyages that the Europeans got to be aware of the American continent and finally the conquest and colonization of the continent. Through his ambitiousness, he was able to learn various languages such as Latin, Portuguese, and Castilian all of which would play a central part in his voyages around the world (Bauer & Dubois, 2010). To date, many people still hold on to the myth that in 1492, Cristopher Columbus set out to prove that the earth was round and not flat. This paper will strive at elucidating on the theory and when it originated in addition to disputing the myth held by many.
The flat earth theory was a misconception that was prevailing among people that the world was flat and not spherical as early indicated. It was an opinion that was brought about by the cosmological view during the Middles Ages where almost all scholars were of the same view that the world was flat. It was initially brought up by Ancient Greeks from the 14th century. There are various explanations or motives that were given to indicate that the world was flat contrary to the truth that had existed (Mohammed, 2011). After the fall of the Roma Empire, many scholars started to oppose the fact that the world was round making the myth that it was flat gain some popularity among the populace. However, the truth never faded completely since many scientists went on to stand on the truth that it was round (Mohammed, 2011). Thanks to the reintroduction of the classical texts after the Renaissance, the myth that the earth was flat started to loss popularity as the truth regained approval and acceptance.
Reference
Bauer, M. D., & Dubois, L. G. (2010). Christopher Columbus. New York: Scholastic.
Eco, U. (1998). Serendipities: Language & lunacy. New York: Columbia University Press.
Mohammed, S. N. (2011). Communication and the globalization of culture: Beyond tradition and borders. Lanham, Md: Lexington Books.
