Teorias da Terra Plana e a Primeira Revolução Científica

Abstract

All known ancient civilizations (until around 500 BC) conceived the generic notion of Flat Earth (or Flat-Based Earth) with a solid and transparent roofing to hold up the sky. We will call this generic notion Archaic World View. We will call Classical World View the notion that the Earth would have a spherical shape and would be static at the center of the Universe. We will call Modern World View the notion that the Earth would have a spherical shape and would orbit around the Sun. For the last two world views there would no longer be a solid structure to hold up the sky. The transition from the Classical World View to the Modern World View, which took place in the 16th and 17th centuries, marked the birth of Science. The transition from the Archaic World View to the Classical World View is what we call here the First Scientific Revolution. In this work we will present the main elements of the Archaic World View and the Classical World View, as well as insights into the First Scientific Revolution.