Thanks for the reply, it was interesting reading and gave me pointers on things to continue reading about. 

I had several surprises in recent days about ancient knowledge. I didn't know (or did, but didn't internalize) that a realization that the Earth was approximately spherical and that a pretty good estimate of its circumference was made by Eratosthenes in 240 BC (252000 "stades", which was somewhere between 24663 and 27967 miles). Starship crews intending on impressing local TL1 cultures with the revelation that their world is spherical are likely to be greeted with a yawn. Those crews may find more disbelief in TL8 flat world society members than in educated TL1 cultures. 

 

You hinted at my other question, how far will news or information travel. In strictly traveller terms, I do imagine that accurate information would need some kind of writing to get relayed over distances or spread beyond a few people (which is TL 1.3), and even then some kind of common language would be needed. The question comes down to: would a world with several (human) TL 0.5 to TL 1 cultures on it spread word of a starship visit over thousands of kilometers? Would a second visit by a starship a few decades later, but several thousand km away result in contact with a culture that was already aware of them? 

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