POV-Ray : Newsgroups : povray.off-topic : Back to the future : Re: Back to the future [~200KBbu] Server Time
7 Sep 2024 11:24:16 EDT (-0400)
  Re: Back to the future [~200KBbu]  
From: Doctor John
Date: 8 Aug 2008 15:56:27
Message: <489ca4eb$1@news.povray.org>
Warp wrote:
> Darren New <dne### [at] sanrrcom> wrote:
>> Chambers wrote:
>>> Even 500 years ago, people knew the Earth was round.
> 
>> """
>> In fact, people have known since at least the 4th century BC that the 
>> earth is round, and the pseudo-scientific conviction that we actually 
>> live on a disc didn't emerge until Victorian times.
>> """
> 
>   A disc is "round". A torus is "round". A ring is "round". A cylinder is
> "round".
> 
>   Why do they always use "round" to mean "spherical" in this context,
> given that the meaning of the word is not very exact?
> 

But the earth isn't spherical, it's ellipsoidal or do I mean oblate 
spheroid. ;-)

John


Post a reply to this message

Copyright 2003-2023 Persistence of Vision Raytracer Pty. Ltd.