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).
裡面還提到 Sinae （ 古希臘、羅馬對一個東方絲綢出產國的稱呼，可能是南中國）的都城跟埃及亞歷山卓港經度相差119.5度，時差8小時，怎麼算的
（雖然還是有誤差，亞歷山卓是GMT+3）
而且也順便查到西元前二世紀的希臘天文學家 Hipparchus （已知最早發現歲差的人）已經知道地球是球體，把地球分成360度計算（已知最早的經度概念）。
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
而且他本人跟教宗當時烏爾班八世關係還不錯，就是因為他還是把那些理論做成書讓人家能夠搞他，讓教皇也沒辦法幫他說話 ， 就之後走個場子讓他回老家三年內每個禮拜讀懺悔詩
但是歷史課本寫的像是他當年被四分五裂似的
另外那時候還是天主教還沒分裂拉