Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
There's a certain logic to the flat Earth idea. Basic personal experience argues for it. And despite
everything you know and trust about gravity, there's still something odd about being upside down at
the South Pole, isn't there? Bona fide flat-Earthers feel the same way. They also believe all that pho-
tography from space showing a sphere-like Earth is a hoax — ditto for the space shuttle, at least with
respect to orbiting the earth.
In any academic discipline, dissent and contrary thinking have a funny way of proving healthy. Good-
ness knowshowmany incredible discoveries have been made because somebody had the wisdom and
the courage to go against the flow. But The Flat Earth Society? With all due respect to the faithful,
it's time to find another conspiracy theory.
“The Continent”
Europe is sometimes called The Continent. It's one thing that Europe is even referred to as a contin-
ent, but
The
Continent? Puh-leaze! Europe is nothing more than a peninsula of Asia.
“Europe” comes from Europa, who, in Greek mythology, was a Phoenician princess who got carried
off by Zeus in the form of a white bull, and by him became the mother of Minos, Rhadamanthus,
and Sarpedon. No wonder people are mixed up about this “Europe” business. Actually, it was the an-
cient Greeks who coined the name and first placed it on their maps. And indeed in those days travel
between, say, Southern Europe and Central Asia took so long and involved such perils that, for all
intents and purposes, they might as well have been separate land masses. Culturally, Europe and Asia
were separate worlds, too. But physically separate? Not on my map, nor even on that of the ancient
Greeks. So is Europe a continent? As a matter of standard usage, yes. As a matter of geographic real-
ity, no. And
The
Continent? Sounds to me like a matter of self-esteem — or lack thereof. As for you,
forget about it.
