The invention of space

F. M. Cornford

pp. 3-16

in: Milič Čapek (ed), The concepts of space and time, Berlin, Springer, 1976

Abstract

…When I was taught geometry, geometry and Euclid were synonymous terms; and it never occurred to me to doubt that I lived and moved in Euclidean space, extending, quite obviously, in all its three dimensions, without limit. I suspect that, if we look into our minds, all but a few accomplished mathematicians will find the old framework of space and time still unshaken. Common sense lags a good way behind the reasonings of revolutionary thinkers.