SETI again

On Jul 21, 2006, at 05:20 UTC, Robert wrote:

> actually i was going with what was taught it school, and that was
> that they believe the earth was flat and there were demons and
> monsters and such that would kill and eat any crew that strayed too
> far from land. of course, it would not be the first time that schools
> teach the wrong thing.

Yes, I'm afraid you were done a disservice. All the educated (including the royalty) knew perfectly well the Earth was round, and how big it was. It was Columbus who was wrong: he thought it was much smaller than it really was, and that he could make it all the way to Asia by sailing west. He managed to convince the Spanish to let him try, because they were desperate to get an edge over the Portugese. Fortunately for Columbus, he got lucky and ran into the Americas just before he ran out of provisions. Had there been nothing but open ocean between Europe and Asia, as they had believed, Columbus and his crew would indeed have been lost.

Not that this has much to do with space settlement, but...

Best,
- Joe

Joe Strout -- joe@...