> we know that the cathedrals are not aligned on the geodesic
Maybe not exactly aligned, but looking at that image of the geodesic line and the location of the churches, they all seem close enough to make me think their locations are not random chance (especially since they were laid out in the days before satellites and airplanes). I presume these are all Catholic churches? Could the medieval Catholic Church have had a plan to do this?
I also wondered about the strategy of joining the first and last church. The authors switched to a regression for their last test, but only on the Mercator projection.
(I actually remember in 7th grade that our math teacher had to repeat time and again that a line of best fit does not necessarily need to join the first and last dot. For some reason it's a very instinctual thing to do.)
Maybe not exactly aligned, but looking at that image of the geodesic line and the location of the churches, they all seem close enough to make me think their locations are not random chance (especially since they were laid out in the days before satellites and airplanes). I presume these are all Catholic churches? Could the medieval Catholic Church have had a plan to do this?