Essay/Term paper: The evolution of the world

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Geography

The Greek geographers of the later Roman period developed systematic

calculations for the mapping and shaping of the earth. However, what

would come to replace these systematic calculations? Why were the

ideologies of a flat earth accepted and why were those of a spherical

earth ridiculed? The answer to this question is very simple and can be

answered by one clear and concise word: Religion.



"Thus saith the Lord God; This is Jerusalem: I have set it in the midst

of the nations and countries

that are round about her." (Ezekiel 5:5)



This verse from the of book Ezekiel simply states that the city of

Jerusalem should be in the center of all maps created. This eliminated

the need for any latitude or longitude. Before hand, there had been more

than six hundred maps created, not one having this holy city as the

center. There was nothing new about putting "the most sacred place at

the center" says Boorstin. The Hindus placed Mount Meru, a mythological

70,000 foot high mountain at the center of their map. In the Muslim

faith, the Ka"bah in Mecca was the highest point on earth and the

polestar showed the city of Mecca to be opposite the center of the sky.

As one can clearly see, many maps, had different centers. Each map had a

different center, each based on a different religion.



Many years before the birth of Jesus Christ, the Greeks theorized that

the earth was a globe. But after that, there was a period in history

called "The Great Interruption." This period was categorized by a

complete silence where people in general, forgot about the issue of

whether the earth was flat or whether it was a globe. Another reason

that brought the theories of a globular world to rest was because the

priests told the general public that the earth was flat. Priests such as

St. Augustine and others invented the Antipode theory, which stated that

a world shaped like a globe is impossible because objects would be

hanging downwards and growing backwards. Once again, religion played a

major part in this argument that would rage on for many years to come.



To conclude, much like the theories of the priests in the first 400

years after the birth of Jesus Christ, who said that Jerusalem was the

center of a flat earth, one might be able to relate this period in time

to a much more recent and modern one. Prior to the French Revolution in

1789, France was ruled by an absolute divine right monarchy. The

institution that had the most power at the time was the Catholic church.

No one in France would ever dare question the word of the Church.

Everything the Church said had to be true and that was that. This is

further reinforced by the church"s persecution of Copernicus who later

again theorized that the earth was not the center of the solar system.

This illustrates that 1000 years later, religion remained the backbone

of society, and to a lesser extent, the same still holds true today in

certain societies.