CHAPTER II 
THE INTELLECTUAL SLEEP AND THE AWAKENING 
“ Let things be — not seem. 
I council rather, — do, and nowise dream! 
Earth’s young significance is all to learn: 
The dead Greek lore lies buried in the urn 
Where who seeks fire finds ashes.” 
— Robert Browning. 
iT^THER interests filled the troubled Middle Ages, the 
Greek language with the works of Aristotle and 
Ptolemy were almost forgotten in Christendom, and 
the results of Greek learning were kept alive only in the 
Moslem world. The Antarctic problem disturbed no 
man’s rest, and fired the fancy or adventure of no one. 
The churchmen detected a fruitful source of heresy in 
the idea of a spherical Earth, and after a while found it 
contrary to Scripture ; but it is pleasant to note that the 
Venerable Bede maintained the true view in England. 
In the first enthusiasm of Christianity worldly knowledge 
was brushed aside as not being essential to salvation. 
St. Basil, who did not himself deny the sphericity of the 
Earth, said: 
“ Of what importance is it to know whether the Earth 
is a sphere, a cylinder, a disc or a concave surface? 
What is of importance is to know how I should conduct 
myself towards myself, towards my fellowman and to- 
wards God.” 
Perhaps it was the belief in Antipodes, human beings 
inhabiting the side of the Earth opposite to the known 
IO 
