Piles of Proofs : The Earth is Not A Globe
You can read it here: https://archive.org/details/onehundredproofs00carp/page/n3
Fifty selected proofs are listed after the images.
Whenever experiments have been tried on the surface of standing water, this surface has always been found to be level. If the Earth were a globe, the surface of all standing water would be convex. This is an experimental proof that Earth is not a globe.
Surveyors’ operations in the construction of railroads, tunnels, or canals are conducted without the slightest “allowance” being made for “curvature,” although it is taught that this so-called allowance is absolutely necessary !
There are rivers that flow for hundreds of miles towards the level of the sea without falling more than a few feet — notably, the Nile, which in a thousand miles, falls but a foot. A level expanse of this extent is quite incompatible with the idea of the Earth’s “convexity.” It is, therefore, a reasonable proof that Earth is not a globe.
The lights which are exhibited in lighthouses are seen by navigators at distances at which, according to the scale of the supposed “curvature” given by astronomers ,they ought to be many hundreds of feet, in some cases, down below the line of sight ! For instance: the light at Cape Hatteras is seen at such a distance (40 miles) that, according to theory, it ought to be nine-hundred feet higher above the level of the sea that it absolutely is , in order to be visible ! This is conclusive proof that there is no “curvature,” on the surface of the sea — “the level of the sea,” — ridiculous though it is to be under the necessity of proving it at all : but it is, nevertheless, a conclusive proof that the Earth is not a globe.
That the compass points north and south at the same time is a fact as indisputable as that two and two makes four; but that this would be impossible if the thing were placed on a globe with “north” and “south” at the centre of opposite hemispheres is a fact that does not figure in the school-books, though very easily seen : and it requires no lengthy train of reasoning to bring out of it a pointed proof that the Earth is not a globe.
As the compass points north and south at one time, and as the North, to which it is attracted, is that part of the Earth situate where the North Star is in the zenith, it follows that there is no south “point” or “pole” but that, while the centre is North, a vast circumference must be South in its whole extent. This is a proof that the Earth is not a globe.
As we have seen that there is, really no south point (or pole) but an infinity of points forming, together , a vast circumference — the boundary of the known world, with its battlements of icebergs which bid defiance to man’s onward course in a southerly direction — so there can be no east or west “points,” just as there is no “yesterday,” and no “to-morrow.” In fact, as there is one point that is fixed (the North), it is impossible for any other point to be fixed likewise. East and west are, therefore, merely directions at right angles with a north and south line : and as the south point of the compass shifts round to all parts of the circular boundary, (as it may be carried round the central North), so the directions east and west, crossing this line, continued, form a circle at any latitude. A westerly circumnavigation, therefore, is a going round with the North Star continually on the right hand, and an easterly circumnavigation is performed only when the reverse condition of things is maintained, the North Star being on the left hand as the journey is made. These facts, taken together, form a beautiful proof that the Earth is not a globe.
The compass points north and south at one and the same time, and a meridian is a north and south line, it follows that meridians can be no other than straight lines. But, since all meridians on a globe are semicircles, it is an incontrovertible proof that the Earth is not a globe.
The idea that, instead of sailing horizontally round the Earth, ships are taken down one side of a globe, then underneath, and are brought up on the other side to get home again, is, except as a mere dream, impossible and absurd ! And, since there are neither impossibilities nor absurdities in the simple matter of circumnavigation, it stands, without argument, a proof that the Earth is not a globe.
If the Earth, were a globe, the distance round its surface at say, 45 “degrees” south latitude, could not possibly be any greater than it is at the same latitude north ; but, since it is found by navigators to be twice the distance — to say the least of it — or, double the distance it ought to be according to the globular theory, it is a proof that the Earth is not a globe.
The best possessions of man are his sense ; and, when he uses them all, he will not be deceived in his survey of nature. It is only when some one faculty or other is neglected or abused that he is deluded. Every man in full command of his senses knows that a level surface is a flat and horizontal one ; but astronomers tell us that the true level is the curved surface of a globe ! They know that man requires a level surface on which to live, so they give him one in name which is not one in fact ! Since this is the best that astronomers, with their theoretical science, can do for their fellow creatures — deceive them (unless theoretical astronomers are all out of their senses together) — it is clear that things are not as they say they are; and, in short, it is proof that Earth is not a globe. (Unless theoretical astronomers are all out of their senses together.)
The common sense of man tells him — if nothing else told him — that there is an “up” and a “down’ in nature, even as regards the heavens and the earth ; but the theory of modern astronomers necessitates the conclusion that there is not : therefore, the theory of astronomers is opposed to common sense — yes, and to inspiration — and this is a common sense proof that the Earth is not a globe.
Man’s experience tells him that he is not constructed like the flies that can live and move upon the ceiling of a room with as much safety as on the floor : and since the modern theory of a planetary earth necessitates a crowd of theories to keep company with it, and one of them is that men are really bound to the earth by a force which fastens them to it “like needles round a spherical loadstone,” a theory perfectly outrageous and opposed to all human experience, it follows that, unless we can trample upon common sense and ignore the teachings of experience, we have an evident proof that the Earth is not a globe.
God’s Truth never — no, never — requires a falsehood to help it along. Mr Proctor, in his “Lessons in Astronomy,” says : Men “have been able to go round and round the Earth in several directions.” Now, in this case, the word “several” will imply more than two, unquestionably : whereas, it is utterly impossible to circumnavigate the Earth in any other than an easterly or a westerly direction ; and the fact is perfectly consistent and clear in its relation to Earth as a Plane.
Proctor’s “most complete proof that the Earth is a globe” lies in what he calls “the fact” that distances from place to place agree with calculation. But, since the distance round the Earth at 45 “degrees” south of the equator is twice the distance it would be on a globe, it follows that what the greatest astronomer of the age calls “a fact” is NOT a fact; thet his “most complete proof” is a most complete failure; and that he might as well have told us, at once, that he has NO PROOF to give us at all. Now, since, if the EARTH be a globe, there would, necessarily, be piles of proofs of it all round us, it follows that when astronomers, with all their ingenuity, are utterly unable to point one out — to say nothing about picking one up — that they give us a proof that the Earth is not a globe.
The surveyor’s plans in relation to the laying of the first Atlantic Telegraph cable, show that in 1665 miles — from Valentia, Ireland, to St John;s, Newfoundland — the surface of the Atlantic Ocean is a LEVEL surface — not the astronomers’ “level,” either ! The authoritative drawings, published at the time, are a standing evidence of the fact, and form a practical proof that Earth is not a globe.
If the Earth were a globe, it would, if we take Valentia to be the place of departure, curate downwards, in the 1665 miles across the Atlantic to Newfoundland, according to the astronomers’ own tables, more than three-hundred miles; but, as the surface of the Atlantic does not do so — the fact of its levelness having been clearly demonstrated by Telegraph cable surveyors, — it follows that we have a grand proof that the Earth is not a globe.
Astronomers are in the habit of considering two points on the Earth’s surface, without, it seems, any limit as to the distance that lies between them, as being on a level, and the intervening section, even though it be on an ocean, as a vast “hill” — of water ! The Atlantic ocean, in taking this view of the matter, would form a “hill of water” more than a hundred miles high ! The idea is simply monstrous, and could only be entertained by scientists whose whole business is made up of materials of the same description : and it certainly requires no argument to deduce, from such “science” as this, a satisfactory proof that the Earth is not a globe.
If the Earth were a globe, it would, unquestionably, have the same general characteristics — no matter its size — as a small globe that may be stood upon the table. As the small globe has top, bottom, and sides, so must also the large one — no matter how large it be. But, as the Earth, which is “supposed” to be a large globe, has no sides or bottom as the small globe has, the conclusion is irresistible that it is a proof that Earth is not a globe.
If the Earth were a globe, an observer who ascends above its surface would have to look downwards at the horizon (if it be possible to conceive of a horizon at all under such circumstances) even as astronomical diagrams indicate — at angles varying from ten to nearly fifty degrees below the “horizontal” line of sight ! But, as no observer in the clouds, or upon any eminence on the earth, has ever had to do so, it follows that the diagrams spoken of are imaginary and false ; that the theory which requires such things to prop it up is equally airy and untrue ; and that we have a substantial proof that Earth is not a globe.
If the Earth were a globe, it would certainly have to ne as large as it is said to be — twenty-five thousand miles in circumference. Now, the thing which is called “proof” of the Earth’s roundness, and which is presented to children at school, is, that if we stand on the sea-shore we may see the ships, as they approach us, absolutely “coming up,” and that, as we are able to the highest parts of these ships first, it is because the lower parts are “behind the earth’s curve.” Now, since, if this were the case — that is, if the lower parts of these ships were a “hill of water” at all — the size of the earth, indicated by such a curve as this, would be so small that it would only be big enough to hold the people of a parish, instead of the nations of the world, it follows that the idea is preposterous ; that the appearance is due to another and to some reasonable cause ; and that, instead of being proof of the globular form of the Earth it is proof that the Earth is not a globe.
It is often said that, if the Earth were flat, we could see all over it ! This is the result of ignorance. If we stand on the level surface of a plain or prairie, and take notice, we shall find that the horizon is formed at about three miles all around us : that is, the ground appears to rise up until, at a distance, it seems on a level with the eye-line or line of sight. Consequently, objects no higher than we stand — say, six feet— and which are at that distance (three miles), have reached the “vanishing point,” and are beyond the sphere of our unaided vision. This is the reason why the hull of a ship disappear (in going away from us) before the sails ; and, instead of there being about it the faintest shadow of evidence of the Earth’s rotundity, it is clear proof that Earth is not a globe.
If the Earth were a globe, people — except those on the top — would, certainly, have to be “fastened” to its surface by some means or other, whether by the “attraction” (gravity) of astronomers or by some other undiscovered and undiscoverable process ! But, as we know that we simply walk on its surface without any other aid than that which is necessary for locomotion on a plane, it follows that we have, herein, a conclusive proof that Earth is not a globe.
If the Earth were a globe, there certainly would be — if we could imagine the thing to be peopled all round — “antipodes:” “people who,” says the dictionary, “living exactly on the opposite side of the globe to ourselves, have their feet opposite to ours:” — people who are hanging heads downwards whilst we are standing heads up ! But, since the theory allows us to travel to those parts of the Earth where the people are said to be heads downwards, and still to fancy ourselves to be heads upwards and our friends whom we have left behind us to be heads downwards, it follows that the whole thing is a myth — a dream — a delusion — and a snare ; and, instead of there being any evidence at all in this direction to substantiate the popular theory, it is a plain proof that the Earth is not a globe.
If we examine a true picture of the distant horizon, or the thing itself, we shall find that it coincides exactly with a perfectly straight and level line. now, since there could be nothing of the kind on a globe, and we find it to be the case all over the Earth, it is proof that the earth is not a globe.
If the Earth were a globe, there would, very likely, be (for nobody knows) six months day and six months night at the arctic and antarctic regions, as astronomers dare to assert there is : — for their theory demands it ! But, as this fact — the six months day and six months night — is nowhere found but in the arctic regions, it agrees perfectly with everything else that we know about the Earth as a plane, and, whilst it overthrows the “accepted theory,” it furnishes a striking proof that Earth is not a globe.
When the Sun crosses the equator, in March, and begins to circle round the heavens in north latitude, the inhabitants of high northern latitudes see him skimming round their horizon and forming the break of their long day, in a horizontal course, not disappearing again for six months, as he rises higher and higher in the heavens whilst he makes his twenty-four hour circle until June, when he begins to descend and goes on until he disappears beyond the horizon in September. Thus, in the northern regions, they have that which the traveller calls the “midnight Sun,” as he sees that luminary at a time when, in his more southern latitude, it is always midnight. If, then, for one-half the year, we may see ourselves the Sun making horizontal circles round the heavens, it is presumptive evidence that, for the other half-year, he is doing the same, although beyond the boundary of our vision. This, being proof that Erath is a plane, is therefore, a proof that the Earth is not a globe.
We have abundance of evidence that the Sun moves daily round and over the Earth in circles concentric with the northern region over which hangs the North Star ; but, since the theory of the Earth being a globe is necessarily connected with the theory of its motion round the Sun in a yearly orbit, it falls to the ground when we bring forward the evidence of which we speak, and, in so doing, forms a proof that the Earth is not a globe.
The Suez Canal, which joins the Red Sea with the Mediterranean, is about one hundred miles long ; it forms a straight and level surface of water from one end to the other ; and no “allowance” for any supposed “curvature” was made in its construction. It is clear proof that the Earth is not a globe.
It is certain that the theory of the Earth’s rotundity and that of its mobility must stand or fall together. A proof, then, of its immobility is virtually a proof of its non-rotundity. Now, that the Earth does not move, either on its axis, or in an orbit around the Sun or anything else, is easily proven. If the Earth went through space at the rate of eleven-hundred miles in a minute of time, as astronomers teach us, in a particular direction, there would unquestionably be a difference in the result of firing off a projectile in that direction and in a direction the opposite of that one. But as, in fact, there is not the slightest difference in any such case, it is clear that any alleged motion of the Earth is disproved, and that, therefore, we have proof that the Earth is not a globe.
The circumstances which attend bodies which are caused merely to fall from a great height prove nothing as to the motion or stability of the Earth, since the object, if it be on a thing that is in motion, will participate in that motion ; but, if an object be thrown upwards from a body at rest, and, again, from a body in motion, the circumstances attending its descent will be very different. In the former case, it will fall, if thrown vertically upwards, at the place from whence it was projected ; in the latter case, it will fall behind — the moving body from which it is thrown will leave it in the rear. Now, fix a gun, muzzle upwards, accurately, in the ground ; fire off a projectile ; and it will fall by the gun. If the Earth travelled eleven-hundred miles a minute, the projectile would fall behind the gun, in the opposite direction to that of the supposed motion. Since, then, this is NOT the case, in fact, the Earth’s fancied motion is negatived, and we have a proof that the Earth is not a globe.
It is in evidence that, if a projectile be fired from a rapidly moving body in an opposite direction to that in which the body is going, it will fall short of the distance at which it would reach the ground if fired in the direction of motion. Now, since the Earth is said to move at the rate of nineteen miles in a second of time, “from west to east,” it would make all the difference imaginable if the gun were fired in an opposite direction. But, as, in practice there is not the slightest difference, whichever way the thing may be done, we have a forcible overthrow of all fancies relative to the motion of the Earth, and a sticking proof that the Earth is not a globe.
It has been shown that an easterly or westerly motion is necessarily a circular course round the central North. The only north point or centre of motion of the heavenly bodies known to man is that formed by the North Star, which is over the central portion of the outstretched Earth. When, therefore, astronomers tell us of a planet taking a westerly course round the Sun, the thing is as meaningless to them as it is to us, unless they make the Sun the northern centre of the motion, which they cannot do ! Since, then, the motion which they tell us the planets have is, on the face of it, absurd ; and since, as a matter of fact, the Earth can have no absurd motion at all, it is clear that it cannot be what astronomers say it is — a planet ; and, if not a planet, it is a proof that Earth is not a globe.
In consequence of the fact being so plainly seen, by everyone who visits the sea-shore, that the line of the horizon is a perfectly straight line, it becomes impossible for astronomers, when they attempt to convey, pictorially, an idea of the Earth’s “convexity,” to do so with even a shadow of consistency : for they dare not represent this horizon as a curved line, so well knowing is it that it is a straight one ! The greatest astronomer of the age in his “Lessons in Astronomy” gives an illustration of a ship sailing away, “as though she were rounding the top of a great hill of water ; “ and there — of a truth — is the straight and level line of the horizon clear along the top of the “hill” from one side of the picture to the other ! Now, if this picture were true in all its parts — and it is outrageously false in several — it would show that Earth is a cylinder ; for the “hill” shown is simply up one side of the level, horizontal line, and, we are led to suppose, down the other ! Since, then, we have such high authority as Professor Richard A. Proctor that the Earth is a cylinder, it is, certainly, a proof that the Earth is not a globe.
It is a well-known fact that clouds are continually seen moving in all manner of directions — yes, and frequently, in different directions at the same time — from west to east being as frequent a direction as any other. now, if the Earth were a globe, revolving through space from west to east at the rate of nineteen miles in a second, the clouds appearing to us to move towards the east would have to move quicker than nineteen miles in a second to be thus seen ; whilst those which appear to be moving in the opposite direction would have no necessity to be moving at all, since the motion of the Earth would be more than sufficient to cause the appearance. But it only takes a little common sense to show us that it is the clouds that move just a they appear to do, and that, therefore, the Earth is motionless. We have, then, a proof that the Earth is not a globe.
A “standing Order” exists in the English House of Parliament that, in the cutting of canals, the datum line employed shall be a “horizontal line, which shall be the same throughout the whole length of the work.” Now, if the Earth were a globe this “Order” could not be carried out : but, it is carried out : therefore, it is a proof that the Earth is not a globe.
It is a well-known and indisputable fact that there is a far greater accumulation of ice south of the equator than is to be found at an equal latitude north : and it is said that at Kerguelen, 50 degrees south, 18 kinds of plants exist, whilst, in Iceland, 15 degrees nearer the northern centre, there are 870 species ; and, indeed, all the facts in the case show that the Sun’s power is less intense at places in the southern region than its corresponding latitudes north. Now, on the Newtonian hypothesis, all this is inexplicable. It is proof that the Earth is not a globe.
Every year the Sun is a long south of the equator as he is north ; and if the Earth were not “stretched out” as it is, in fact, but turned under, as the Newtonian theory suggests, it would certainly get as intensive a share of the Sun’s rays south as north ; but the Southern region being, in consequence of the fact stated, far more extensive than the region North, the Sun, having to complete his journey round every twenty-four hours, travels quicker as he goes further south, from September to December, and his influence has less time in which to accumulate at any given point. Since, then, the facts could not be as they are if the Earth were a globe, it is proof that the Earth is not a globe.
The aeronaut is able to start in his balloon and remain for hours in the air, at an elevation of several miles, and come down again in the same county or parish from which he ascended. Now, unless the Earth drag the balloon along with it in its nineteen-miles-a-second motion, it must be left far behind, in space : but, since balloons have never been known thus to be left, it is a proof that the Earth does not move, and, therefore, a proof that the Earth is not a globe.
The Newtonian theory of astronomy requires that the moon “borrow” her light from the Sun, now, since the Sun’s rays are hot and the Moon’s light sends with it no heat at all, it follows that the Sun and Moon are “two great lights,” as we somewhere read ; that the Newtonian theory is a mistake ; and that, therefore, we have a proof that the Earth is not a globe.
The Sun and Moon may often be seen high in the heavens at the same time — the Sun rising in the east and the Moon setting in the west — the Sun’s light positively putting the Moon’s light out by sheer contrast ! If the accepted newtonian theory were correct, and the Moon had her light from the Sun, she ought to be getting more of it when face to face with that luminary — if it were possible for a sphere to act as a reflector all over its face ! But as the Moon’s light pales before the rising Sun, it is a proof that the theory fails ; and this gives us a proof that the Earth is not a globe.
The Newtonian hypothesis involves the necessity of the Sun, in the case of a lunar eclipse, being on the opposite side of a globular earth, to cast its shadow on the Moon : but, since eclipses of the Moon have taken place with both the Sun and the Moon above the horizon, it follows that it cannot be the shadow of the Earth that eclipses the Moon ; that the theory is a blunder ; and that it is nothing less than a proof that the Earth is not a globe.
Eleven-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 proof that the Earth is not a globe.
When a ship, in sailing away from us, has reached the point at which 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 the Earth is not a globe.
It is “supposed,” in the regular course of the Newtonian theory, that the Earth is, in June, about 190 millions of miles away from its position in December. Now, since we can, (in middle north latitudes), see the North Star, on looking out of a window that faces it — and out of the very same corner of the very same pane of glass in the very same window — all year round, it is proof enough for any man in his senses that we have made no motion at all. It is proof that the Earth is not a globe.
(85.) there are rivers which flow east, west, north, and south — that is, rivers are flowing in all directions over the Earth’s surface, and at the same time. Now, if the Earth were a globe, some of these rivers would be flowing up-hill and others down, taking it for a fact that there really is an “up” and a “down” in nature, whatever form she assumes. But, since rivers do not flow up-hill, and the globular theory requires that they should, it is proof that the Earth is not a globe.
(86.) If the Earth were a globe, rolling and dashing through “space” at the rate of “a hundred miles in five seconds of time,” the waters of seas and oceans could not, by any known law, be kept on its surface — the assertion that they could be retained under these circumstances being an outrage upon human understanding and credulity ! But as the Earth — that is, the habitable world of dry land — is found to be “ standing out of the water and in the water ” of the “ mighty deep, “ whose circumferential boundary is ice, we may throw the statement back into the teeth of those who make it and flaunt before their faces the flag of reason and common sense, inscribed with — a proof that the Earth is not a globe.
The theory of a rotating and revolving earth demands a theory to keep the water on its surface ; but, as the theory which is given for this purpose is as much opposed to all human experience as the one which it is intended to uphold, it is an illustration of the miserable makeshifts to which astronomers are compelled to resort, and affords a proof that the Earth is not a globe.
If we could — after our minds had once been opened to the light of Truth — conceive of a globular body on the surface of which human beings could exist, the power — no matter by what name it be called — that would hold them on would, then, necessarily, have to be so constraining and cogent that they could not live ; the waters of the oceans would have to be as a solid mass, for motion would be impossible. But we not only exist, but live and move ; and the water of the ocean skips and dances like a thing of life and beauty ! This is a proof that the Earth is not a globe.
It is well known that the law regulating the apparent decrease in the size of objects as we leave them in the distance (or as they leave us) is very different with luminous bodies from what it is in the case of those which are non-luminous. Sail past the light of a small lamp in a row-boat on a dark night, and it will seem to be no smaller when a mile off than it was when close to it. Proctor says, in speaking of the Sun : “his apparent size does not change, “ — far off or near.