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A rendered picture of the Flat Earth model.

The Flat Earth Society is an organization first based in England and later in Lancaster, California that advocates the Flat Earth hypothesis. Image File history File links Emblem-important. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... The Flat Earth Society (FES) is a Belgian big band ensemble founded and lead by Peter Vermeersch. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... Lancaster, California, USA, is the eighth-largest city in Los Angeles County and the 9th fastest growing city in the United States. ... For other uses, see Flat Earth (disambiguation). ...

Origins of the flat Earth movement

Contemporary theory supporting a flat Earth originated with an English inventor, Samuel Rowbotham (1816-1884). Based on his interpretation of certain biblical passages, Rowbotham published a 16-page pamphlet, which he later expanded into a 430-page book, Earth Not a Globe, expounding his views. According to Rowbotham's system, which he called "Zetetic Astronomy", the earth is a flat disk centered at the North Pole and bounded along its southern edge by a wall of ice, with the sun and moon 3000 miles (4800 km) and the "cosmos" 3100 miles (5000 km) above earth. Samuel Birley Rowbotham (1816 – 1864), was an English inventor and writer who wrote Zetetic Astronomy: Earth Not a Globe, based on his literal interpretation of certain biblical passages, published a 16-page pamphlet (1849), which he later expanded into a 430 page book (1881) expounding his views. ...

Rowbotham and his followers gained notice by engaging in public debates with leading scientists of the day. One such debate, involving the prominent naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace, concerned the Bedford Level experiment (and later led to several lawsuits for fraud and libel).^[1][2][3] For the Cornish painter, see Alfred Wallis. ... The Bedford Level Experiment was a series of observations carried out along a six-mile length of the Bedford Level (the Old Bedford River), Norfolk, England, during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. ... In English and American law, and systems based on them, libel and slander are two forms of defamation (or defamation of character), which is the tort or delict of making a false statement of fact that injures someones reputation. ...

After Rowbotham's death, his followers established the Universal Zetetic Society, published a magazine entitled The Earth Not a Globe Review, and remained active well into the early part of the 20th century. After World War I, the movement underwent a slow decline. (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999 in the... “The Great War ” redirects here. ...

In the United States, Rowbotham's ideas were taken up by the Christian Catholic Apostolic Church. Founded by a Scottish faith healer, John Alexander Dowie, in 1895, the church established the theocratic community of Zion, Illinois on the shore of Lake Michigan forty miles (seventy kilometers) north of Chicago. In 1906, Dowie was deposed as leader of the sect by his lieutenant, Wilbur Glenn Voliva. The flat earth doctrine was exclusively taught in community schools. Voliva was a pioneer in religious radio broadcasting and described his views in broadcasts on a 100,000-watt (100 KW) radio station. Voliva died in 1942 and the church declined. A few flat earth supporters persisted in Zion into the 1950s. The Christian Catholic Church, later known as the Christian Catholic Apostolic Church, was a religious group founded in 1896 by John Alexander Dowie. ... Faith healing is the use of solely spiritual means in treating disease, which, in some cases, is accompanied with the refusal of modern medical techniques. ... For the comedian, writer, and musician, see John Dowie (humourist). ... Year 1895 (MDCCCXCV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Zion is a city located in Lake County, Illinois. ... Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America, and the only one located entirely within the United States. ... Voliva in 1911. ... For other uses, see Watt (disambiguation). ... The kilowatt (symbol: kW) is a unit for measuring power, equal to one thousand watts. ... Year 1942 (MCMXLII) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link will display the full 1942 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The 1950s decade refers to the years 1950 to 1959 inclusive. ...

Flat Earth from space

The flat Earth faced challenges posed by photographs of the earth from space and later the moon. Member Samuel Shenton remarked: "It's easy to see how a photograph like that could fool the untrained eye." The society took the position that the Apollo Moon landings were a hoax, staged by Hollywood and based on a script by the late Arthur C. Clarke, a position also held by some others not connected to the Flat Earth Society (see Apollo moon landing hoax accusations). Sir Arthur Charles Clarke, CBE, Sri Lankabhimanya (16 December 1917 – 19 March 2008) was a British (lived in Sri Lanka since 1956) science fiction author, inventor, and futurist, most famous for the novel 2001: A Space Odyssey, written in collaboration with director Stanley Kubrick, a collaboration which led also to... Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong in NASAs training mockup of the Moon and lander module. ...

In a March 2001 message to a friend, Clarke facetiously responded to the society's claims as follows:

"I've written to [former NASA director] Dan Goldin saying I was never paid for this work and unless he does something quickly he'll be hearing from my killer lawyers, Geldsnatch, Geldsnatch & Blubberclutch." ^[4]

Charles K. Johnson

In 1971, Shenton died and Charles K. Johnson became the new president of the Flat Earth Society. Under his leadership, over the next three decades, the group grew in size from a few members to about 3,000. Johnson distributed newsletters, flyers, maps, and other promotional materials to anyone who asked for them, and he managed all membership applications together with his wife, Marjory, who was also a flat-earther. Year 1971 (MCMLXXI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the 1971 Gregorian calendar, known as the year of cyclohexanol. ... Charles Kenneth Johnson (July 24, 1924, San Angelo, Texas - March 19, 2001, Lancaster, California) was, from 1972 until his death, the president and energetic promoter of the International Flat Earth Society, which he and his wife ran from their home in California. ...

United Nations flag

The most recent world model propagated by the Flat Earth Society holds that humans live on a disc, with the North Pole at its center and a 150-foot (45-meter) high wall of ice at the outer edge. The resulting map resembles the symbol of the United Nations, something Johnson used as evidence for his position. In this model, the sun and moon are each a mere 32 miles (52 km) in diameter. Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_Nations. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_Nations. ... Categories: International organization stubs | International flags | United Nations ... For other uses, see North Pole (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Foot (disambiguation). ... The metre, or meter (symbol: m) is the SI base unit of length. ... This article is about water ice. ... For other uses, see Map (disambiguation). ... UN and U.N. redirect here. ... Sol redirects here. ... This article is about Earths moon. ... “Miles” redirects here. ... “km” redirects here. ...

A newsletter from the society gives some insight into Johnson's thinking:

Aim: To carefully observe, think freely rediscover forgotten fact and oppose theoretical dogmatic assumptions. To help establish the United States...of the world on this flat earth. Replace the science religion...with SANITY

The International Flat Earth Society is the oldest continuous Society existing on the world today. It began with the Creation of the Creation. First the water...the face of the deep...without form or limits...just Water. Then the Land sitting in and on the Water, the Water then as now being flat and level, as is the very Nature of Water. There are, of course, mountains and valleys on the Land but since most of the World is Water, we say, "The World is Flat". Historical accounts and spoken history tell us the Land part may have been square, all in one mass at one time, then as now, the magnetic north being the Center. Vast cataclysmic events and shaking no doubt broke the land apart, divided the Land to be our present continents or islands as they exist today. One thing we know for sure about this world...the known inhabited world is Flat, Level, a Plain World.

We maintain that what is called 'Science' today and 'scientists' consist of the same old gang of witch doctors, sorcerers, tellers of tales, the 'Priest-Entertainers' for the common people. 'Science' consists of a weird, way-out occult concoction of gibberish theory-theology...unrelated to the real world of facts, technology and inventions, tall buildings and fast cars, airplanes and other Real and Good things in life; technology is not in any way related to the web of idiotic scientific theory. ALL inventors have been anti-science. The Wright brothers said: "Science theory held us up for years. When we threw out all science, started from experiment and experience, then we invented the airplane." By the way, airplanes all fly level on this Plane earth.

Charles Johnson died on March 19, 2001, leaving the fate of the Flat Earth Society uncertain. is the 78th day of the year (79th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 2001 Gregorian calendar). ...

The Flat Earth Society are stringent opponents of cruelty to pancakes.

Physics of a Flat Earth

The modern Flat Earth Society describes the Earth as being a disk with a diameter of about 24,900 miles (40,000 km) and a circumference of 78,225 miles (126,000 km). The sun and moon are both discs about 32 miles (52 km) in diameter (although some sources say that the sun and moon are spheres) and are about 3,000 miles (4800 km) above the Earth, and the stars about 100 miles (160 km) above the sun and moon.

The Flat Earth Society also maintains that the Earth is accelerating upward at a rate of 9.8 m/s², thereby simulating gravity. ^[5] This upward momentum is caused by the "Universal Accelerator", a vague term used by the Society to describe a force that originated at the Big Bang and caused the Earth to speed upwards. Gravity cannot exist on a flat Earth since the disc shape would eventually collapse on itself. However in a few Flat Earth models, other planetary bodies such as the moon and the sun are alleged to have gravitational pulls, causing the gravitational force on an object to decrease as it increases in altitude. This also allows spacecraft to "orbit". Gravity is a force of attraction that acts between bodies that have mass. ...

The planetary bodies above the Earth revolve above it, thereby causing sunrise and sunset to occur. As the sun moves farther away, it shrinks until it is no longer able to be seen. The same phenomenon occurs with the stars to cause their movement.

The society's Flat Earth hypothesis states that as a ship moves farther away, the chance of a wave being in front of the ship relative to a viewer's perspective on shore increases. Therefore, because the ship moves farther away and becomes smaller, a wave is able to obscure a larger portion of the hull until the ship is no longer visible. Other factors that also contribute to this effect are atmospheric distortion and human eyesight. In the Second century the Alexandrian astronomer Ptolemy advanced many arguments for the sphericity of the Earth. Among them was the observation that when sailing towards mountains, they seem to rise from the sea, indicating that they were hidden by the curved surface of the sea. It would need a Megatsunami to obscure a mountain. Megatsunami (often hyphenated as mega-tsunami, also known as iminami or wave of purification) is an informal term used mostly by popular media and popular scientific societies to describe a very large tsunami wave beyond the typical size reached by most tsunamis. ...

A diagram depicting Flat Earth Seasons.

The exact explanation for lunar eclipses in the Flat Earth theory is vague, however. Two commonly accepted theories are Shadow Object Theory (that an object undiscovered and undetectable by science obscures the moon causing moon phases and lunar eclipses) and Reflection Theory (the sun's light reflects off the Earth and reflects back to the moon, with some areas of the Earth being less reflective than others, thus producing shadows).

Tides are caused by a slight tilting of the Earth, causing water to "slosh" back and forth. The tilt is very small, and very unlikely to be noticed.

As the sun orbits over the Earth, the Flat Earth theory maintains that the sun's orbit radius changes, causing it to be directly overhead different locations at different times of the year. There is no explanation of the mechanism that causes this.

The Flat Earth Society in popular culture

• In the 1980s, talk show host Wally George often sparred with and ridiculed members of the Flat Earth Society on his show Hot Seat. Australian talk show host Don Lane also had Flat Earth Society advocates on his show.

• A new tourism commercial (2007) for Newfoundland and Labrador states that the Flat Earth Society believed that Newfoundland and Labrador was one of the four corners of the world.

• California-based punk rock band Bad Religion include a song entitled "Flat Earth Society" on their 1990 album Against the Grain (as well as their compilation album All Ages), written by Brett Gurewitz. A prominent feature of the song is the repetition of the words "lie, lie, lie" throughout, indicating a strong denunciation of the society and its theories. The band has produced similar songs criticizing other movements it views as pseudoscientific.

• It was satirised in the Terry Pratchett novel Small Gods, set on a flat Discworld, in which a monolithic religion (Omnianism) asserts that the world is a sphere.

The 1980s refers to the years from 1980 to 1989. ... George Walter Pearch, known as Wally George (4 December 1931 – 7 October 2003) was an American conservative radio and television commentator. ... Hot Seat was a syndicated politically-orientated television talk-show that began in the early 1980s, hosted by conservative commentator Wally George. ... Don Lane (born Morton Donald Isaacson c. ... This article is about the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. ... Punk rock is an anti-establishment music movement beginning around 1976 (although precursors can be found several years earlier), exemplified and popularised by The Ramones, the Sex Pistols, The Clash and The Damned. ... Bad Religion is a seminal American punk rock band, formed in Southern California in 1980 by Jay Bentley (bass), Greg Graffin (vocals), Brett Gurewitz (guitars) and Jay Ziskrout (drums). ... Brett Gurewitz (born May 12, 1962) Los Angeles,CA. Also known as Mr. ... Terence David John Pratchett, OBE (born 28 April 1948) is a British fantasy and science fiction author, best known for his Discworld series. ... This article is about the novel Small Gods; for the concept of Small Gods within the Discworld, see Discworld Gods Small Gods is the thirteenth of Terry Pratchetts popular Discworld novels, published in 1992. ... This article is about the novels. ...

References and footnotes

Nature is a prominent scientific journal, first published on 4 November 1869. ... April 7 is the 97th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (98th in leap years). ... 1870 (MDCCCLXX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... 1871 (MDCCCLXXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... is the 222nd day of the year (223rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... The New York Times is an internationally known daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 306th day of the year (307th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... The BBC World Service is one of the most widely recognised international broadcasters, transmitting in 33 languages to many parts of the world through multiple technologies. ... Year 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 2001 Gregorian calendar). ... is the 8th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 193rd day of the year (194th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

Sources and links

• Archival documents: The Papers of the Flat Earth Society, University of Liverpool Library, Special Collections and Archives, reference GB 141 FES. The collection comprises in 31 boxes and folders the papers of the Flat Earth Society during Samuel Shenton's involvement with the society (1956-1971). The material includes incoming and outgoing correspondence, promotional material such as leaflets and posters, magazines, manuscripts, lecture material including maps and diagrams, photographs, press cuttings, notes, books on astronomy and the Earth, and various other ephemera.
• Earth Not a Globe Online text of Samuel Birley Rowbotham's 1881 treatise on Zetetic (Flat Earth) Astronomy.
• $5,000 for Proving the Earth is a Globe, Oct. 1931 article from Modern Mechanics and Inventions about Voliva and his flat earth cosmology.
• The Flat Earth Professor Donald Simanek's web page on the history of flat earth movements.
• The Flat-out Truth: Earth Orbits? Moon Landings? A Fraud! Says This Prophet by Robert J. Schadewald. Science Digest, July 1980. A very detailed look at the Society and its leader. Schadewald was president of the National Center for Science Education and an expert on alternative earth movements.
• Looking for Lighthouses by Robert J. Schadewald, Creation/Evolution #31 (1992). This article explains the use of lighthouse data by Samuel Rowbotham.
• Scientific Creationism, Geocentricity, and the Flat Earth by Robert J. Schadewald, from the Skeptical Inquirer, Winter 1981-1982. Describes the movements leading to the Flat Earth Society and discusses parallels with creationism.
• The International Flat Earth Society. By Robert P. J. Day, 1993. Documents the full Flat Earth Society newsletter. Part of the Talk.Origins archive on the Evolution/Creationism archive.

• Holding, James Patrick, 2000. Is the ’erets (earth) flat? TJ 14(3):51–54.
• Russell, Jeffrey Burton, 1997. Inventing the Flat Earth : Columbus and Modern Historians ISBN 0-275-95904-X
• Russell, Jeffrey Burton, 1997. The Myth of the Flat Earth (summary of above book).

• Flat Earth Society Inc. Flat Earth Society Home Page

The NCSEs logo The National Center for Science Education (NCSE) is a non-profit organization affiliated with the American Association for the Advancement of Science. ...

Further reading

• Martin Gardner (1957). Fads & Fallacies in the Name of Science, Dover Publications, ISBN 0-486-20394-8, chapter 2, pg 16-27
• James Randi (1995). An Encyclopedia of claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and Supernatural, St. Martin's Press, ISBN 0-312-13066-X, pg 97-98. (Available online)
• Robert Schadewald (1981). Scientific Creationism, Geocentricity, and the Flat Earth, Skeptical Inquirer, vol 6, #2, Winter 1981-82, 41-48.
• Ted Schultz, editor. (1989). The Fringes of Reason: A Whole Earth Catalog, Harmony Books, ISBN 0-517-57165-X, pg. 86, 88, 166.
• William F. Williams, editor. (2000). Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience, Facts on File, ISBN 0-8160-3351-X, pg 114-115.
• Benjamin Deeb (2005). Planet Earth: Alternate Theories of Shape and Size, NYR Press, ISBN 0-5173-4859-X

Martin Gardner (b. ... Dover Publications is a book publisher founded in 1941. ... James Randi (born August 7, 1928), stage name The Amazing Randi, is a stage magician and scientific skeptic best known as a challenger of paranormal claims and pseudoscience. ... Headquartered in the legendary Flatiron Building in New York City, St. ... The Skeptical Inquirer is a magazine of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP) dedicated to debunking pseudoscience. ... Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience book cover The Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience (2000), edited by Dr William F. Williams, identifies, defines and explains all the terms and concepts related to the murky world of almost science.[1] It includes over 2000 entries, covering phenomena, people, events, topics places and associations. ...

See also

• Hollow Earth
• Copernicus

A Hollow Earth theory posits that the planet Earth has a hollow interior and, possibly, a habitable inner surface. ... Nicolaus Copernicus (in Latin; Polish Mikołaj Kopernik, German Nikolaus Kopernikus - February 19, 1473 – May 24, 1543) was a Polish astronomer, mathematician and economist who developed a heliocentric (Sun-centered) theory of the solar system in a form detailed enough to make it scientifically useful. ...

External links

• The Flat Earth Society official site
• References to the Flat Earth Society by the Library of Congress
• Book chapter on FES by Sir Patrick Moore
• Lyrics to the song "Flat Earth Society" by Brett Gurewitz
• Flat Earth Society article from Randi's book