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Originally Posted by xepherys
It was FACT for a very long time that the earth was flat, was it not? During that time, few if any scientists argued the point because it was simply known to be true... as true as 1+1=2, and we now know it was not true at all.
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<threadjack>
Not really. At LEAST since there has been anything resembling modern science (The Greeks around 4th century BC?) we have known the world is a sphere, and at no point in time have scholars in societies descended from that one reverted to accept a 'flat earth' model.
Also, societies such as some of the South American Indians and the Egyptians demonstrated far too sophisticated knowledge of astronomy and planetary movements to have believed in a flat earth, either.
So no, at no point was it a generally accepted FACT that the earth was flat. It is a pretty pervasive myth, though.
A better example probably would have been aether, but even that was only a theory, and was dismissed once more sophisticated ones that fit reality were presented. The development of increasingly sophisticated models for the makeup of matter is a pretty good testament to 'Science's ability to adapt to new information and data.
</threadjack>