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| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flat Earth | 6/6 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flat_Earth | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T09:19:56.188495+00:00 | kb-cron |
In the 17th century, a historical myth was created that asserted that the predominant cosmological doctrine during the Middle Ages was that the Earth was flat. The myth gained currency in the 19th century. An early proponent of this myth was the American writer Washington Irving, who maintained that Christopher Columbus had to overcome the opposition of churchmen to gain sponsorship for his voyage of exploration. Later significant advocates of this view were John William Draper and Andrew Dickson White, who used it as a major element in their advocacy of the thesis that there was a long-lasting and essential conflict between science and religion. Some studies of the historical connections between science and religion have demonstrated that theories of their mutual antagonism ignore examples of their mutual support. Subsequent studies of medieval science have shown that most scholars in the Middle Ages, including those read by Christopher Columbus, maintained that the Earth was spherical.
== Modern flat Earth beliefs ==
In the modern era, the pseudoscientific belief in a flat Earth originated with the English writer Samuel Rowbotham with the 1849 pamphlet Zetetic Astronomy. Lady Elizabeth Blount established the Universal Zetetic Society in 1893, which published journals. In 1956, Samuel Shenton set up the International Flat Earth Research Society, better known as the "Flat Earth Society" in Dover, England, as a direct descendant of the Universal Zetetic Society. In the Internet era, the availability of communications technology and social media like YouTube, Facebook and Twitter have made it easy for individuals to spread disinformation and attract others to erroneous ideas, including that of the flat Earth. Modern believers in a flat Earth face overwhelming publicly accessible evidence of Earth's sphericity. They also need to explain why governments, media outlets, schools, scientists, surveyors, airlines and other organizations accept that the world is spherical. To satisfy these tensions and maintain their beliefs, they generally embrace some form of conspiracy theory. In addition, believers tend to not trust observations they have not made themselves, and often distrust, disagree with or accuse each other of being in league with conspiracies.
== Education == While learning from their social environment, a child's perception of their physical environment sometimes leads to a false concept about the shape of Earth and what happens beyond the horizon. Some young children think that Earth ends there and that one can fall off the edge. Education helps them gradually change their belief into a realist one of a spherical Earth. On the other hand, many children do understand that the world is round, as confirmed by interviewing what the pictures they draw actually mean. To counter misinformation about the shape of the Earth and other scientific issues, the National Center for Science Education has a site for supporting teachers.
== See also ==
== References ==
=== Bibliography === Garwood, Christine (2007), Flat Earth: The History of an Infamous Idea, Pan Books, ISBN 978-1-4050-4702-9 Gleede, Benjamin (2021). Antiochenische Kosmographie? Zur Begründung und Verbreitung nichtsphärischer Weltkonzeptionen in der antiken Christenheit. De Gruyter. Hatcher, William E. (1908), John Jasper, New York, NY: Fleming Revell Simek, Rudolf (1996) [1992]. Heaven and Earth in the Middle Ages: The Physical World Before Columbus. Angela Hall (trans.). The Boydell Press. ISBN 978-0-85115-608-8. Retrieved February 9, 2013. Plofker, Kim (2009). Mathematics in India. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-12067-6. Randolph, Edwin Archer (1884), The Life of Rev. John Jasper, Pastor of Sixth Mt. Zion Baptist Church, Richmond, Va., from His Birth to the Present Time, with His Theory on the Rotation of the Sun, Richmond, VA: R.T. Hill & Co.
== Further reading == Fraser, Raymond (2007). When The Earth Was Flat: Remembering Leonard Cohen, Alden Nowlan, the Flat Earth Society, the King James monarchy hoax, the Montreal Story Tellers and other curious matters. Black Moss Press, ISBN 978-0-88753-439-3
== External links ==
Robbins, Stuart (May 1, 2012). "Episode 33: Flat Earth". Exposing PseudoAstronomy Podcast. Robbins, Stuart (September 5, 2016). "Episode 145: Modern Flat Earth Theory, Part 1". Exposing PseudoAstronomy Podcast. Robbins, Stuart (October 4, 2016). "Episode 149: Modern Flat Earth Thought, Part 2". Exposing PseudoAstronomy Podcast. Power, Myles; James, James (October 31, 2016). "Episode 146: The Lies of the Sun". League of Nerds (YouTube). Archived from the original on December 11, 2021. – Review of a pro-Flat Earth documentary. The Myth of the Flat Earth The Myth of the Flat Universe You say the earth is round? Prove it (from The Straight Dope) Flat Earth Fallacy Archived 2001-04-29 at the Wayback Machine Zetetic Astronomy, or Earth Not a Globe by Parallax (Samuel Birley Rowbotham (1816–1884)) at sacred-texts.com Flat Earth idea of the Suns trajectory Flat Earth Theory of the Moon & Sun's paths around the world