News flash: The Earth is round!

No, I'm not about to launch a tirade against flat-earthers. I just periodically, as a medievalist, feel the need to spread the word: educated medieval people did not think the Earth was flat. The uneducated? It's hard to know. They tended not to write (oddly enough). The fact that writers occasionallly referred to the sphericity of the Earth suggests that they feared some readers may have thought it was flat--but then again, the fact that some medieval writers writing about science didn't feel the need to spell it out even when they used sources that did spell it out suggests that they figured their students already knew this. (I'm imagining a medieval Rodney McKay yelling at the one poor slob who'd missed the memo. A medieval Rodney McKay--hey, Byrhtferth of Ramsey might fit that description!) I don't feel the need to tell my students that the Earth is round (although I did have a grad student who announced in class that the moon landing was faked).

No, medieval writers don't even just think it's round and flat; some compare it to an apple or a pine cone. They know it's spherical (more or less).

The idea that medieval people thought the Earth was flat and one could sail off the edge is a myth. ("No, no, myth! Myth!" "Yeth?" Points if you can identify the movie I'm quoting!) Bad press from the people of the Renaissance, who, after all, decided that they were living in a Rebirth, making the people between them and the vaunted classical error just middle people, medieval people, living in the Middle Ages.

Don't even get me started on the term "Dark Ages." Yes, I know some specialists still use it in (semi-)legitimate way--but, like I said, don't get me started; that's a rant for another day.

News flash: The Earth is round!

No, I'm not about to launch a tirade against flat-earthers. I just periodically, as a medievalist, feel the need to spread the word: educated medieval people did not think the Earth was flat. The uneducated? It's hard to know. They tended not to write (oddly enough). The fact that writers occasionallly referred to the sphericity of the Earth suggests that they feared some readers may have thought it was flat--but then again, the fact that some medieval writers writing about science didn't feel the need to spell it out even when they used sources that did spell it out suggests that they figured their students already knew this. (I'm imagining a medieval Rodney McKay yelling at the one poor slob who'd missed the memo. A medieval Rodney McKay--hey, Byrhtferth of Ramsey might fit that description!) I don't feel the need to tell my students that the Earth is round (although I did have a grad student who announced in class that the moon landing was faked).

No, medieval writers don't even just think it's round and flat; some compare it to an apple or a pine cone. They know it's spherical (more or less).

The idea that medieval people thought the Earth was flat and one could sail off the edge is a myth. ("No, no, myth! Myth!" "Yeth?" Points if you can identify the movie I'm quoting!) Bad press from the people of the Renaissance, who, after all, decided that they were living in a Rebirth, making the people between them and the vaunted classical error just middle people, medieval people, living in the Middle Ages.

Don't even get me started on the term "Dark Ages." Yes, I know some specialists still use it in (semi-)legitimate way--but, like I said, don't get me started; that's a rant for another day.

Sci-fi memories: Planet of the Apes

Looking at that list of top SF 50 shows and thinking about how I'd rank them, and what was missing, brought to mind a show that doesn't really belong on the list, but I love it anyway.

Planet of the Apes. No, I'm not talking about the classic movie with Charlton Heston. The film is brilliant. (And I love the little homage in Madagascar, by the way--I was dying watching that, and my husband couldn't figure out the joke. His brother got it instantly, so it's not just me.)

I mean the 1974 disastrous show that filmed 14 episodes and never even got to show them all (though IMDb now says it was a hit in the UK; I had no idea!). IMDb says Rod Serling, uncredited, wrote the original idea and two possible scripts. Wow. It's a shame they didn't get him to write real, credited scripts, because that was the problem.( Read more )

Sci-fi memories: Planet of the Apes

Looking at that list of top SF 50 shows and thinking about how I'd rank them, and what was missing, brought to mind a show that doesn't really belong on the list, but I love it anyway.

Planet of the Apes. No, I'm not talking about the classic movie with Charlton Heston. The film is brilliant. (And I love the little homage in Madagascar, by the way--I was dying watching that, and my husband couldn't figure out the joke. His brother got it instantly, so it's not just me.)

I mean the 1974 disastrous show that filmed 14 episodes and never even got to show them all (though IMDb now says it was a hit in the UK; I had no idea!). IMDb says Rod Serling, uncredited, wrote the original idea and two possible scripts. Wow. It's a shame they didn't get him to write real, credited scripts, because that was the problem.( Read more )