How did mankind discover that the earth was spherical, and why did they initially believe it to be flat?

M ank ind discovered that the Earth was spher ical through various observations and experiments over time . One of the earliest recorded accounts of this discovery was by the ancient Greek philos opher Arist arch us of Sam os , who proposed that the earth was a sphere based on the observation of the stars and the shadow cast by the moon during a lun ar e clipse . \n \n However , the idea of a flat earth pers isted for many centuries , particularly in some religious and cultural traditions . The belief in a flat earth was often based on a literal interpretation of religious texts , as well as a lack of access to scientific knowledge and evidence . \n \n It was not until the 1 6 th century that the idea of a spher ical earth was widely accepted , thanks to the work of scientists such as Nicol aus Cop ern icus , Johannes Ke pler , and Gal ile o Gal ile i . They used teles cop es and other scientific instruments to observe the movement of the planets and the stars , and their findings provided strong evidence for the earth being a sphere . \n \n T oday , the idea of a flat earth is widely regarded as a conspiracy theory , and the overwhelming scientific evidence supports the earth being a sphere . </s>