Final answer:
Ancient sailors and educated individuals understood that Earth was spherical, influenced by Greek philosophers like Pythagoras. The belief in a flat Earth persisted during the 1400s in Europe due to religious and symbolic reasons but was not universally accepted. The Flat Earth Society promotes the flat Earth idea, but the oblate spheroid model is the scientifically validated representation of the Earth's shape.
Step-by-step explanation:
The belief that the Earth was flat stems from various interpretations and theories throughout history. Despite this common misconception, even in ancient times, educated individuals and sailors had an understanding of the Earth's roundness. The notion of a spherical Earth dates back at least 2000 years, influenced greatly by Greek philosopher and mathematician Pythagoras, who believed in a spherical Earth due to the concepts of perfect forms and the observation that the Moon itself is a sphere. During the 1400s in Europe, some still held on to the concept of a flat Earth, largely influenced by religious symbolism and a geocentric view of the universe, though this was not universally accepted among educated people of the time. Even with the creation of the Flat Earth Society which supports the flat Earth claim, the oblate spheroid model, based on extensive scientific evidence and observations, remains the accurate representation of the Earth's shape.
It is erroneous to say that those who opposed Columbus's voyage believed the Earth was flat since this notion was not widely held among the educated. For instance, sailors and scientists already had compelling indications of the Earth's roundness, such as the changing view of stars and the Earth's shadow during lunar eclipses, magnifying the flawed nature of the flat Earth theory. When discussing the shape of Earth, the terms flat Earth society and oblate spheroid are crucial for contextual understanding, but it is clear that the spherical nature of the Earth, rather than flatness, is the scientifically validated reality.