Pre - Columbus traveler with classic computer?

From: Innfogra_at_aol.com <(Innfogra_at_aol.com)>
Date: Tue Oct 13 05:40:58 1998

In a message dated 98-10-13 03:37:16 EDT, you write:

<< is true that sailors in those days were leery of sailing too far
 from coast -- because there was no way to determine longitude until
 accurate clocks were developed many years later.
>>
We know now that the Egyptians knew the 25,000 mile figure around 700 BC and
possibly much earlier. Recently they pulled a brass differential geared device
that may be an astronomical calculator from a wreck in the Mediterainian that
dates back to 300 - 400 BC. I bet the device is older yet, it is hard to
carbon date brass.

They recently discovered settlements on the south coast of Chile that date
back 30,000 yrs. I believe that there was regular but infrequent trade &
travel between Egypt and South America 4000 years ago. My question is which
way did they go, the long way, via China, the Bearing Straits and down the
west coast of the Americas; or did they go the short way, which is from the
westernmost tip of Africa straight across the Atlantic. This distance is is
shorter than the length of the Mediterainian. If you were able to calculate
the distance one had traveled by going the long way (I think this was done
first); I would think that the short way would become obvious.

To get back to classic computers, I bet this brass device is one of the first
computers, if differential geared devices count.

My question is why did everything go to Hell between 300BC and 0AD? How could
you believe the earth was flat? Where did this idea come from?
Paxton
Received on Tue Oct 13 1998 - 05:40:58 BST