There are very solid geological theories on which our understanding of the continents is based. Here is one site with some basic information:
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/planets/earth/Continents .shtml Frederick Emrich, Editor commons-blog (http://info-commons.org/blog/) RSS Feed: http://www.info-commons.org/blog/index.rdf info-commons.org (http://info-commons.org/index.shtml) email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ----- Original Message ----- From: Shane Mage <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, May 26, 2004 10:26 AM Subject: Re: [PEN-L] The Origins of Continents > >am I right to say that the division between Europe and Asia (which > >aren't separate continents, strictly speaking) simply reflects the > >"us" vs. "them" attitudes of the ancient Greeks? > >Jim Devine > > These supposed " "us" vs. "them" attitudes " are certainly not > to be found in Homer, Herodotos, Thucydides, Plato, Aristotle, > or Demosthenes. For the ancient Greeks it was always much > more "us vs. us". Nor did they consider "Europe," "Asia," and > "Libya" to be "continents" in the sense indicated by Plato, but > rather as areas within a much larger landmass whose total > dimensions were only vaguely known. > > Shane Mage > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: Shane Mage [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Sent: Tue 5/25/2004 9:23 PM > > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Cc: > > Subject: Re: [PEN-L] The Origins of Continents > > > > > > > > Jayson Funke asks: > > > > "Can anyone tell me of [the] origin of the term continents?" > > > > The term is of Greek origin, *epeiros*. It seems to have been first > > used in the sense of "continent" by Herodotos. Plato, at Timaios 25A, > > speaks of the American continent: "...all that we have > > here, lying within the Pillars of Herakles, is evidently a bay with > > a narrow entrance [in Phaedo he compares the Mediterranean to a frog > > pond] but that yonder [the Atlantic] is a real ocean, and the land > > surrounding it may most rightly be called, in the fullest and truest > > sense, a continent." > > > > Shane Mage > > > > "When we read on a printed page the doctrine of Pythagoras that all > > things are made of numbers, it seems mystical, mystifying, even > > downright silly. > > > > When we read on a computer screen the doctrine of Pythagoras that all > > things are made of numbers, it seems self-evidently true." (N. > > Weiner) > >
