Please consider. :), page-47

I don't know about the rest of your examples, but the ancient Egyptians had worked out that the earth was round and had calculated a very close approximation to the diameter. When Columbus set sail from the Iberian Peninsula he was sailing on the very confident assumption that the earth was round and that he would reach the East Indies, the source of the very valuable spices by sailing west. That is why we now call the group of islands east of continental America the West Indies. He was able to raise the emormous capital required by such a voyage from people who also believed that the earth was round. The idea that people in medieval times believed that the earth was flat is untrue. This is not to say that I do not believe that lithium has a bright future.