One Hundred Proofs That the Earth Is Not a Globe

by William Carpenter

63. It is a fact not so well known as it ought to be that when a ship, in sailing away from us, has reached the point at which her hull is lost to our unaided vision, a good telescope will restore to our view this portion of the vessel. Now, since telescopes are not made to enable people to see through a “hill of water,” it is clear that the hulls of ships are not behind a hill of water when they can be seen through a telescope though lost to our unaided vision. This is a proof that Earth is not a globe.

64. Mr. Glaisher, in speaking of his balloon ascends, says: “The horizon always appeared on a level with the car.” Now, since we may search amongst the laws of optics in vain for any principle that would cause the surface of a globe to turn its face upwards instead of downwards, it is a clear proof that the Earth is not a globe.

65. The Rev. D. Olmsted, in describing a diagram which is supposed to represent the Earth as a globe, with a figure of a man sticking out at each side and one hanging head downwards, says: “We should dwell on this point until it appears to us as truly up,”—in the direction given to these figures as it does with regard to a figure which he has placed on the top! Now, a system of philosophy which requires us to do something which is, really, the going out of our minds, by dwelling on an absurdity until we think it is a fact, cannot be a system based on God’s truth, which never requires anything of the kind. Since, then, the popular theoretical astronomy of the day requires this, it is evident that it is the wrong thing, and that this conclusion furnishes us with a proof that the Earth is not a globe.

66. It is often said that the predictions of eclipses prove astronomers to be right in their theories. But it is not seen that this proves too much. It is well known that Ptolemy predicted eclipses for six-hundred years, on the basis of a plane Earth, with as much accuracy as they are predicted by modern observers. If, then, the predictions prove the truth of the particular theories current at the time, they just as well prove one side of the question as the other, and enable us to lay claim to a proof that the Earth is not a globe.

67. Seven-hundred miles is said to be the length of the great Canal, in China. Certain it is that, when this canal was formed, no “allowance” was made for “curvature.” Yet the canal is a fact without it. This is a Chinese proof that the Earth is not a globe.

68. Mr. J. N. Lockyer says: “Because the Sun seems to rise in the east and set in the west, the Earth really spins in the opposite direction; that is, from west to east.” Now, this is no better than though we were to say—Because a man seems to be coming up the street, the street really goes down to the man! And since true science would contain no such nonsense as this, it follows that the so-called science of theoretical astronomy is not true, and, therefore, we have a proof that the Earth is not a globe.

69. Mr. Lockyer says: “The appearances connected with the rising and setting of the Sun and stars may be due either to our earth being at rest and the Sun and stars travelling round it, or the earth itself turning round, while the Sun and stars are at rest.” Now, since true science does not allow of any such beggarly alternatives as these, it is plain that modern theoretical astronomy is not true science, and that its leading dogma is a fallacy. We have, then, a plain proof that the Earth is not a globe.

70. Mr. Lockyer, in describing his picture of the supposed proof of the Earth’s rotundity by means of ships rounding a “hill of water,” uses these words:—“Diagram showing how, when we suppose the earth is round, we explain how it is that ships at sea appear as they do.” This is utterly unworthy of the name of Science! A science that begins by supposing, and ends by explaining the supposition, is, from beginning to end, a mere farce. The men who can do nothing better than amuse themselves in this way must be denounced as dreamers only, and their leading dogma a delusion. This is a proof that Earth is not a globe.

71. The astronomers’ theory of a globular Earth necessitates the conclusion that, if we travel south of the equator, to see the North Star is an impossibility. Yet it is well known this star has been seen by navigators when they have been more than 20 degrees south of the equator. This fact, like hundreds of other facts, puts the theory to shame, and gives us a proof that the Earth is not a globe.

72. Astronomers tell us that, in consequence of the Earth’s “rotundity,” the perpendicular walls of buildings are, nowhere, parallel, and that even the walls of houses on opposite sides of a street are not strictly so! But, since all observation fails to find any evidence of this want of parallelism which theory demands, the idea must be renounced as being absurd and in opposition to all well-known facts. This is a proof that the Earth is not a globe.