Ideas of the ancients
EARLY GREEK THINKERS DESCRIBED THE WORLD as a flat disc, circled by a river. Others thought the Earth might be square ancient Peruvians said it was shaped like a box, with a ridged "roof" where the gods lived after they realized that the wondered what holds the that Earth was spherical the Greeks imagined it was held up by the giant Atlas. In Mexico, Aztec people thought the heavens were held up by four gods. These ideas sound strange to us, because we are brought up on the idea that the Earth is a round ball floating in empty space, but they are all common sense ideas based on everyday experience. The ancients realized that human senses are inadequate to understand the Universe, but they did not have anything better to go on. Time also fascinated ancient thinkers. Some Greeks saw time as the ultimate judge, who would always discover and avenge any injustice. Some RACE AGAINST TIME cultures, including the Chinese, Hindus, Zeno s paradove look at the and some Greek philosophers, imagined relationship between time and His tamus time moving in alternating rhythms.