history

More than 2,500 years ago, the first evidence for a spherical Earth was discovered by the Ancient Greeks. Around 500 BC, Pythagoras noted that the moon was a sphere and reasoned the Earth was as well. A few hundred years later, Greek mathematician Eratosthenes used simple geometry to estimate the circumference of Earth. He had surveyors measure the heights of shadows cast by sticks in the ground.

If someone were to ask me on what the United States was founded, "science" would not be my first answer. Or even my second. But in chapter three, "Religion, Meet Science", Otto argues that science is a core, founding principle of the US and democracy itself.