Talk:Utopia (book)

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I am a student from Magway division Myanmar.

Question [Homoproteus, 21st Jan. 2008]: Why is the text re Book II citing Goodey's conclusion from "Mapping Utopia" that More's description is a geometric impossibility?

I.) This is not pertinant to the original text of More's Utopia, it is immaterial if it is or isn't possible.

II.) Goodey's conclusion is wrong anyway. The circle whose circumference the text describes, is the inner circle of the crescent (which the two tapering arms curve around to form), not the outer circle defining the island's outer boundary with the sea. i.e. The circle which is 500 miles in circumference is the great Lagoon. The original book was illustrated by Martini, not Holbein, and Martini's illustration illustrates quite clearly both the great lagoon, and the fortified rock in its entrance. More's descriptions are too precise to be dismissed offhand by someone who has clearly misread the text.