Later in the maritime era large ships were built to travel on the ocean One way to demonstrate that the Earth is round was to observe the ships sailing toward the coast People on shore can see the ship s mast before seeing its body because the curvature of the Earth hides the ship s body the ship does not come into sight until it sails through the arc or the curvature of the Earth s surface Italian navigator Christopher Columbous had the idea to prove that the Earth was round. He believed he could set sail to the west and eventually reach india which lies to the east of Spain Columbus started a journey from Spain in 1492 and traveled to North America HE misunderstood that it was india because he discovered native people that he thought looked much like people in the east ("Red Indians", known in the Americas as Native or First Americans). Since Columbus believed he had landed in India the assumption that the Earth was round became widely accepted Columbus made great efforts to investigate and prove that the Earth was round by using different methods to confirm his belief.