science

Inventing the Flat Earth

Inventing the Flat Earth is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Inventing the Flat Earth rather than just read about it. In short: Inventing the Flat Earth (ISBN 978-0-275-95904-3) is a 1991 book by historian Jeffrey Burton Russell which debunks the notion that medieval Christians believed the Earth was flat by tracing it to the rumor that Christians opposed to Darwinism were as ignorant as the (alleged) Medieval Christian "flat earthers". James Hannam wrote: The myth that people in the Middle Ages thought the Earth is flat appears to date from…

Key takeaways

Inventing the Flat Earth belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Inventing the Flat Earth to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Inventing the Flat Earth from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Inventing the Flat Earth (ISBN 978-0-275-95904-3) is a 1991 book by historian Jeffrey Burton Russell which debunks the notion that medieval Christians believed the Earth was flat by tracing it to the rumor that Christians opposed to Darwinism were as ignorant as the (alleged) Medieval Christian "flat earthers". James Hannam wrote:

The myth that people in the Middle Ages thought the Earth is flat appears to date from the 17th century as part of the campaign by Protestants against Catholic teaching. But it gained currency in the 19th century, thanks to inaccurate histories such as John William Draper's History of the Conflict Between Religion and Science (1874) and Andrew Dickson White's A History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom (1896). Atheists and agnostics championed the conflict thesis for their own purposes, but historical research gradually demonstrated that Draper and White had propagated more fantasy than fact in their efforts to prove that science and religion are locked in eternal conflict.

See also Modern flat Earth beliefs Myth of the flat Earth

Sources Russell, Jeffrey Burton (1991). Inventing the Flat Earth: Columbus and Modern Historians. New York: Praeger. ISBN 978-0-275-93956-4.

Notes

External links Russell's summary of his book

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Inventing the Flat Earth

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Inventing the Flat Earth claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Inventing the Flat Earth before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Inventing the Flat Earth ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Inventing the Flat Earth

In research: Inventing the Flat Earth appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Inventing the Flat Earth in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Inventing the Flat Earth is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1991 English-language non-fiction books, 1991 non-fiction books, 20th-century history books, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Inventing the Flat Earth outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Inventing the Flat Earth in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Inventing the Flat Earth means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Inventing the Flat Earth out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Inventing the Flat Earth in simple terms?

Why does Inventing the Flat Earth matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Inventing the Flat Earth?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Inventing the Flat Earth.