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Re:New Da Vinci bio portrays a man obsessed with knowledge, ... by arde on Wednesday October 18, 2017 @01:59AM (#15497184)
I suppose Halley asked him about something anybody in Taiwan would know about the sky there, but not common knowledge for people in France.
Re:New Da Vinci bio portrays a man obsessed with knowledge, ... by benbreen on Wednesday October 18, 2017 @04:41AM (#15497709)
Yeah, he asked him if there was ever a time of year when the sun shone directly down Taiwanese chimneys. Psalmanazar said no, not realizing that Taiwan was on the tropic of cancer. He attempted to recover from his mistake by saying that chimneys in Taiwan were Z-shaped.
Re:New Da Vinci bio portrays a man obsessed with knowledge, ... by farnsworth on Sunday October 22, 2017 @12:12AM (#15525124)
Oh, that's really interesting, thanks!