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The '''Flat Earth''' idea is a primitive concept of the [[earth]] as a [[plane (geometry)|plane]] or a large circle. <ref>"Among various rude tribes we find survivals of a primitive idea that the earth is a flat table or disk, ceiled, domed, or canopied by the sky, and that the sky rests upon the mountains as pillars." </ref>
The [[ancient Greece|ancient Greeks]] knew that the Earth was spherical. [[Aristotle]] gave some convincing arguments for the spherical Earth, including ships sailing over the horizon and [[lunar eclipse]]s showing the Earth's shadow. Eratosthenes used [[geometry]] and a hired pace man to estimate its circumference to within a few percent. <ref> "Eratosthenes concluded the Earth to be 40,000 kilometers in circumference, or approximately 25,000 miles. Within a few percentage points, this is correct.." [http://www.sterlinghousepublisher.com/remote%20pagesnewsite/excerptscontent/Pages%20from%20Sum%20of%20Existenceprocess/showbook.pdf php?book_id=58 The Sum of Existence], by A.R. Barnes, Jr. </ref>
Medieval [[Europe]]ans knew this, and had correctly warned [[Christopher Columbus]] that he would never get to India with his limited supplies. Columbus relied on a fallacious argument that the Earth was much smaller than the Greeks estimated.
