Victor writes
quote:
Well, a good example is back about 300 years (give or take?), when a lot of people (mostly in Europe) thought you would fall of the edge of the world if you sailed too far
Actually, the fact that the Earth was round had been generally accepted for a very long time, all the way back to ancient Greece. When Columbus set sail west in 1492(?) he intended to find China. That's why the West Indies was named the Indies (for India).
300 years ago, Merchantilism was at its peak and mariners had already taken full advantage of the curvature of the Earth.
Sorry.