People have long known that the Earth is round, and they are finding more and more new ways to show that our world is not flat. And yet, even in 2016, there are quite a few people on the planet who firmly believe that the Earth is not round. These are scary people, they tend to believe in conspiracy theories, and it's hard to argue with them. But they do exist. So is the Flat Earth Society. It becomes funny just thinking about their possible arguments. But the history of our species was interesting and quirky, even firmly established truths were refuted. You don't have to resort to complicated formulas to dispel the flat Earth conspiracy theory.
Just look around and check ten times: the Earth is definitely, inevitably, completely and absolutely not 100% flat.
Today people already know that the Moon is not a piece of cheese or a playful deity, and the phenomena of our satellite are well explained modern science. But the ancient Greeks had no idea what it was, and in their search for an answer, they made some insightful observations that allowed people to determine the shape of our planet.
Aristotle (who made quite a few observations about the spherical nature of the Earth) noted that during lunar eclipses (when the Earth's orbit places the planet exactly between the Sun and the Moon, creating a shadow), the shadow on the lunar surface is circular. This shadow is the Earth, and the shadow cast by it directly indicates the spherical shape of the planet.
Since the Earth rotates (look up the Foucault pendulum experiment if in doubt), the oval shadow that appears during each lunar eclipse indicates not only that the Earth is round, but also not flat.
Ships and horizon
If you've been in port recently, or just strolled along the beach, looking at the horizon, you may have noticed a very interesting phenomenon: approaching ships don't just "emerge" from the horizon (as they would if the world were flat), but rather emerge from the sea. The reason that ships literally “come out of the waves” is because our world is not flat, but round.
Imagine an ant walking along the surface of an orange. If you look at an orange from a close distance, with your nose to the fruit, you will see how the ant's body slowly rises above the horizon due to the curvature of the orange's surface. If you do this experiment with a long road, the effect will be different: the ant will slowly “materialize” into your field of view, depending on how sharp your vision is.
Change of constellations
This observation was first made by Aristotle, who declared the Earth to be round by observing the change of constellations when crossing the equator.
Returning from a trip to Egypt, Aristotle noted that “stars are observed in Egypt and Cyprus that were not seen in the northern regions.” This phenomenon can only be explained by the fact that people look at the stars from a round surface. Aristotle continued and stated that the sphere of the Earth “is of small size, for otherwise the effect of such a slight change of terrain would not have manifested itself so quickly.”
Shadows and sticks
If you stick a stick into the ground, it will provide shade. The shadow moves as time passes (based on this principle, ancient people invented sundials). If the world were flat, two sticks in different places would produce the same shadow.
But this doesn't happen. Because the Earth is round, not flat.
Eratosthenes (276–194 BC) used this principle to calculate the circumference of the Earth with good accuracy.
The higher you go, the farther you can see
Standing on a flat plateau, you look towards the horizon away from you. You strain your eyes, then take out your favorite binoculars and look through them as far as your eyes can see (using binocular lenses).
Then you climb the nearest tree - the higher the better, the main thing is not to drop your binoculars. And again look, straining your eyes, through binoculars to the horizon.
The higher you climb, the further you will see. Usually we tend to associate this with obstacles on Earth, when the forest is not visible for the trees, and freedom is not visible for the concrete jungle. But if you stand on a perfectly clear plateau, with no obstacles between you and the horizon, you will see much more from above than from the ground.
It's all about the curvature of the Earth, of course, and this wouldn't happen if the Earth were flat.
Flying an airplane
If you've ever flown out of the country, especially somewhere far away, you might have noticed two interesting facts about airplanes and the Earth:
Planes can fly in a relatively straight line for a very long time without falling off the edge of the world. They can also fly around the Earth without stopping.
If you look out the window on a transatlantic flight, most of the time you will see the curvature of the earth on the horizon. The best kind of curvature was on the Concorde, but that plane is long gone. From Virgin Galactic's new plane, the horizon should be completely curved.
Look at other planets!
The Earth is different from others, and that is undeniable. After all, we have life, and we have not yet found planets with life. However, all planets have similar characteristics, and it would be logical to assume that if all planets behave in a certain way or exhibit specific properties - especially if the planets are separated by distance or formed under different circumstances - then our planet is similar.
In other words, if there are so many planets that formed in different places and under different conditions, but have similar properties, most likely our planet will be one. From our observations, it became clear that the planets are round (and since we knew how they formed, we know why they are shaped that way). There's no reason to think our planet won't be the same.
In 1610, Galileo Galilei observed the rotation of the moons of Jupiter. He described them as small planets orbiting a large planet - a description (and observation) that the church did not like because it challenged the geocentric model in which everything revolved around the Earth. This observation also showed that the planets (Jupiter, Neptune, and later Venus) are spherical and revolve around the Sun.
A flat planet (ours or any other) would be so incredible to observe that it would overturn almost everything we know about the formation and behavior of planets. This will not only change everything we know about the formation of planets, but also about the formation of stars (since our Sun must behave differently to accommodate the flat Earth theory), the speed and movement of cosmic bodies. In short, we don't just suspect that our Earth is round - we know it.
The existence of time zones
In Beijing it is now 12 midnight, no sun. It's 12 noon in New York. The sun is at its zenith, although it is difficult to see under the clouds. It's one thirty in the morning in Adelaide, Australia. The sun will not rise very soon.
This could only be explained by the fact that the Earth is round and rotates around its own axis. At a certain point, when the sun is shining on one part of the Earth, it is dark on the other end, and vice versa. This is where time zones come into play.
Another point. If the sun were a "spotlight" (its light shining directly on a specific area) and the world was flat, we would see the sun even if it wasn't shining above us. In much the same way, you can see the light of a spotlight on a theater stage while remaining in the shadows. The only way to create two completely separate time zones, one of which will always be in the dark, and the other in the light, is to acquire a spherical world.
Center of gravity
There's an interesting fact about our mass: it attracts things. The force of attraction (gravity) between two objects depends on their mass and the distance between them. Simply put, gravity will pull toward the center of mass of objects. To find the center of mass, you need to study the object.
Imagine a sphere. Because of the shape of the sphere, no matter where you stand, there will be the same amount of sphere underneath you. (Imagine an ant walking on a glass ball. From the ant's point of view, the only sign of movement will be the movement of the ant's legs. The shape of the surface will not change at all). The center of mass of a sphere is at the center of the sphere, meaning gravity pulls everything on the surface towards the center of the sphere (straight down), regardless of the object's location.
Let's consider a plane. The center of mass of the plane is at the center, so the force of gravity will pull everything on the surface towards the center of the plane. This means that if you are on the edge of the plane, gravity will pull you towards the center, and not down, as we are used to.
And even in Australia, apples fall from top to bottom, not from side to side.
Photos from space
Over the past 60 years of space exploration, we have launched many satellites, probes, and people into space. Some of them returned, some continue to remain in orbit and transmit beautiful images to Earth. And in all the photographs the Earth (attention) is round.
If your child asks how we know the Earth is round, take the trouble to explain.
The generally accepted statement that ancient scientists considered our Earth to be flat is not entirely true. Of course, someone thought it was flat, but in fact there were several versions, including one that the Earth is a sphere. Today, it would seem, all the i’s are dotted and no one doubts that the Earth is a ball revolving around the Sun.
No matter how it is. Whether for fun or for PR, or maybe for religious reasons, the world is again split on this issue into two opposing camps. Are you surprised? If someone comes up to you and claims that the Earth is flat, will you twist it at your temple? Oh well. The fact that the Earth is a ball (to be precise, a geoid) and revolves around the Sun is a generally accepted theory and, it seemed, beyond doubt? It wasn’t there...
Which Earth is it: round or flat?
On the one hand, modern science claims that the Earth is round, and on the other... At the head, perhaps, is the Flat Earth Society. The main goal is to prove that the Earth is flat, and the governments of all countries are in a conspiracy and in various ways mislead about the sphericity of the Earth, hiding the fact that the Earth is flat.
The Flat Earth Society still has its adherents.
The basic concepts of the flat earth society are:
The Earth is a flat disk, 40,000 kilometers in diameter, centered near the North Pole.
The Sun and Moon and stars move above the surface of the Earth.
Gravity is denied. The acceleration due to gravity occurs because the Earth is moving upward with an acceleration of 9.8 m/s². Due to the curvature of space-time, this can last indefinitely.
South Polenet. Antarctica is actually the icy edge of our disk - a wall encircling our world.
All photographs of the Earth from space are fakes.
The distance between objects in the southern hemisphere is actually much greater. The fact that flights between them occur much faster than should be according to the flat Earth map can be explained simply - the airliner crews are involved in a conspiracy.
The Sun is something like a powerful searchlight 51 km in diameter, which circles above the Earth at a distance of 4800 km and illuminates it.
Everything that happens is an experiment on us.
All scientific institutes deliberately lie that the Earth is spherical, etc.
The government also lies - it works for its masters - the reptilians.
There were no flights into space, and there’s nothing to say about the Moon, it’s all a hoax.
All videos about space flights were filmed on Earth.
And off we go. Gradually the world is splitting into two halves. One goes to live on a round and spherical Earth, the other – also round, but flat.
Both sides provide “irrefutable” evidence of their vision of the shape of the earth.
Here are some of the most interesting facts of the universe from the lips of both opponents.
The earth is flat because:
IN THE AREA OF VISIBILITY THE HORIZONT LINE IS FLAT
Flat-Earth Evidence: Take any photograph where the horizon line is flat, not rounded. Ball-earth refutation: to see the real curves of the horizon line or plane in the frame, you need a much greater distance from the shooting point from the surface of the earth. This is clearly visible in photographs from space. Flat earth answer: all pictures from space are fakes from NASA and the like. Space doesn't exist. |
THE BIBLE SPEAKS ABOUT A FLAT EARTH
Flat earth proofs: In many descriptions in the Bible, the Earth is flat earth.
(Daniel 4:7, 8): “The visions of my head on my bed were as follows: I saw, behold, a very tall tree in the middle of the earth. This tree was large and strong, and its height reached to the sky, and it was apparently up to ends of the whole earth » -
- This expression only applies to flat earth.
Ball-earth rebuttal:(published taking into account the opinions of fundamentalist Christians):
It should be immediately clarified that the Bible is not a scientific work aimed at explaining the structure of the universe. In the Holy Scriptures, this is done figuratively and in a language understandable to the common people, based on the knowledge that the people had in those days. However, when carefully read and interpreted, the Bible does not contradict modern science and does not indicate that the Earth is not spherical.
In this case, the dream of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of the Neo-Babylonian kingdom, who reigned from September 7, 605 to October 7, 562 BC, is described. e.. The tree in the dream, as it turned out from Daniel’s interpretation of the dream, is Nebuchadnezzar himself. It is correct to consider the edge of the Earth to be the border of the Neo-Babylonian kingdom, for a simple reason: Nebuchadnezzar never ruled the entire Earth. Moreover, it speaks of vision, and not of direct observation.
Flat earth:
(Isaiah 42:5): “Thus says the Lord God, who created the heavens and their expanses, who spread out the earth with its products.” This can only be done with a flat earth.
Ball-earth rebuttal:
This description refers to what are currently called continents. Modern science, with minor reservations, considers the continents to be flat. If this action is considered applicable to a plane, this does not in any way indicate that the entire Earth is also flat.
Flat earth:There is no continuation of dialogue from the appender yet
(Matthew 4:8): “Again the devil takes Him [Jesus] to a very high mountain and shows Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.”
This is only possible if the Earth is flat.
Ball-earth rebuttal(from Bible scholars and scholars):
All the highest mountains on Earth are known. Climbers have climbed everything, and more than once. Unfortunately, it is not possible to examine all the “kingdoms” with any of them, and the reason is not at all that the Earth is round (this is not a hindrance), but because it is impossible to examine anything at such a distance . But modern man can look at “all the kingdoms of the world” on a computer monitor or smartphone. However, Satan's capabilities and abilities far exceed those of humans. In what way he showed the kingdoms and why the high mountain was needed, we do not know.
The most interesting thing is that theoretically this is how the entire Earth can be viewed. Don't be surprised, this is really true. This phenomenon is called diffraction. Under certain conditions, we see the horizon line much further than theoretically we should see it. This is how mirages arise. Of course, in real life the chances of seeing something like this are incredibly small. After all, this requires a certain air temperature, humidity, transparency and, possibly, something else. There is even less chance of seeing the whole Earth. And it’s absolutely insignificant - to view what you want. But who said that the devil does not know how to use this phenomenon? Showing such mirage pictures to Jesus would be a very effective way to influence his human spiritual-sensual nature in order to achieve admiration from him. On the other hand, here we can also talk about vision without direct observation.
Flat earth:There is no continuation of dialogue from the appender yet
(Job 38:12,13): “Did you ever give orders to the morning in your life and show the dawn its place so that it would embrace ends of the earth and shook off the wicked..."
(Job. 37:3 )"Under the whole sky its roar, and its shine - to the ends of the earth ."
The edges can only have a plane.
Ball-earth rebuttal:(from Bible scholars and scholars):
The Lord speaks to Job about the unshakable order of alternation of day and night established by Him. It is figuratively said that the dawn disperses darkness and stops the deeds of the wicked committed at night. The expression “end of the earth” is also used by those who are well aware of the spherical shape of the Earth.
There are other references in the Bible to the edges and corners of the Earth, which can be interpreted in different ways: for example, that these are the edges of continents or countries. In addition, the Bible itself confirms that the word “earth” means dry land:
(Life 1:10 ) And God called the dry land earth , and called the collection of waters seas.
Therefore, it is impossible to accept these scriptures as proof that the Earth is flat.
Flat earth:There is no continuation of dialogue from the appender yet
BEDFORD EXPERIMENT
It was carried out in 1838 by Samuel Rowbotham. This experiment is considered the most reliable evidence.
The essence of the experiment is extremely simple. Rowbotham found a flat area of about 10 km (6 miles) on the Bedford River. I installed the telescope at a height of 20 inches (50.8 cm) from the surface of the water and began to watch the receding boat with a five-meter mast.
The mast was visible throughout the boat's movement. On the basis of which Rowbotham stated that the Earth is flat.
If the Earth were round, the mast should have disappeared from view.
Ball-earth rebuttal:
Lifting horizon in this case it happened due to the phenomenon of refraction. Due to positive refraction, the visible horizon has risen. As a result, its geographic range increased compared to its geometric range. This made it possible to see objects hidden by the curvature of the Earth. At normal temperatures, the horizon rise is 6-7%.
For reference: If the temperature increases excessively the visible horizon can rise to the true mathematical horizon. At the same time, the earth's surface will visually straighten. The earth will become flat, to the delight of flat-earthers. Of course, only visually. The visibility range under these conditions will become infinitely large. The radius of curvature of the beam can become equal to the radius of the globe.
For reference: The discoverer of light refraction is considered to be the Italian physicist and astronomer Grimaldi Francesco Maria (1618-1663)
Naturally, Samuel Rowbotham was well aware of the phenomena of refraction. And it is quite logical that the published book describing experiments proving that the Earth is flat did not arouse any interest among scientists. But there were many adherents. One of Hemplein’s followers even placed a bet of 500 pounds (not a small amount at that time) that he would allegedly prove to any opponent that the Earth was flat. And such an opponent was found. It was the scientist Alfred Wallace. Of course, he knew perfectly well what he was doing. The experiment was carried out in the same valley. But Wallace changed the observation slightly. He used an intermediate point - a bridge, on which a circle was fixed. A horizontal line was placed at the end point. The telescope, circle and line were at the same height relative to the surface of the water. If the Earth were flat, a line would be visible through the circle at its center. Naturally, this did not happen. However, Hamplen refused to pay the due amount and called Wallace a liar and a forger.
So what is the Earth like?
Isn't it time to tell the true story that Magellan simply swam in a circle, not around the Earth? Cook sailed along the edge of the Earth in search of Antarctica. And by the way, he was right: Antarctica does not exist! Kruzenshtern also had good reason to doubt it when he discovered Antarctica. After all, he just ran into an icy wall that was created to prevent the oceans from flowing out. It is not clear, of course, how he managed to get around our Earth’s disk (yes, a disk, let’s call a spade a spade) in 751 days. Again conspiracy and falsification! He didn’t put anything on the map and didn’t go anywhere, he probably drank beer somewhere in Australia, and the maps were given to him ready-made, drawn at NASO. NASO is a special organization that, for our billions, fools us, draws cool pictures of space, makes viewing programs for the supposedly round Earth, and films hoax shows of flights into space and to the Moon. Governments are in cahoots, all scientists are in cahoots, pilots are in cahoots, the police are also aware - collusion, all smart people are also in cahoots. In short, everything is in conspiracy against honest people who understand the essence of the true universe and, finally, with the advent of the Internet, are ready to open the eyes of those who are not yet in the know.
This is roughly what this serious problem looks like today. So what kind of Earth do we actually live on? If you know any facts, please report them in the comments. Perhaps you will be able to find inaccuracies in the article or the need to supplement it, we will also comment. And we will certainly make an addition, and possibly a continuation, taking into account all your comments and wishes. Please behave correctly, do not send your participants to the third grade of high school or to a psychiatrist, or twist your finger to your temple. Checked - doesn't work. Only strong arguments and evidence of a flat or spherical Earth will help save the situation.
Hello dear friends and blog readers. Ruslan Miftakhov is in touch. Lately I have been haunted by one topic: is the earth really structured the way we were told in school?
If you ask any person passing by, is the earth round or flat? Almost everyone will say without hesitation that the earth is a sphere, someone else will add in the form of an ellipse. And maybe one in a hundred will say jokingly - the earth is flat.
Or maybe everything we were told about the earth, we just believe in it as God without evidence.
Let's think together about what they are hiding from us, whether it is really spherical and what is happening around us in general.
Let me say right away that I am not a supporter of flat-earthers, but flat-earthers put forward their own theory, thereby breaking stereotypes about the sphericity of the planet. And forcing us to think with our own heads, and not stupidly believe in everything that is imposed on us by the human programming center (read school).
Let us remember from history that previously everyone was convinced that the earth was flat. Then humanity was convinced that the earth is spherical, that the planet rotates around its axis and around the sun. And to this day we all unquestioningly believe in this, without wondering whether it really is so.
If there is no proof, then it is just a guess. How could Copernicus prove in the Middle Ages that the earth is spherical? How? Have you flown into space and looked from above?
Or maybe there really is no space. Why hasn’t the space program developed since the flight to the moon in the last century? What is hidden behind this? Maybe it's all fake? And there was simply no flight to the moon?
Yes, you can troll me about my lack of education, the fact that I did not study well at school, and so on. But think about this, are you sure that in the programming centers of humanity called school, reliable information was poured into our brains, and not that which was beneficial to the superior race?
Are you wondering how many times larger Russia is than Africa? You will be surprised when you watch this video.
For example, I was convinced that most of the history in the school curriculum is false, or they simply do not tell the truth or outright lie. So maybe the whole truth about our planet is not being revealed to us?
And since in adulthood all the vessels in a person’s head are filled with knowledge, whether false or not, he is skeptical about new information, rejecting it as immunity. Try to free your vessels a little from the old one and fill in the new information.
Are you ready for new information? Then look further, you might be shocked...
A giant mine from another civilization
The most interesting thing in the video begins at the 12th minute, telling that all the rocks, canyons, and gorges on our planet are nothing more than giant quarries for mining minerals for another civilization, since 95% of the production disappears into nowhere.
The essence of the video is that our Earth is not a planet, it is a giant quarry in which the entire periodic table is mined in the most barbaric way.
Truth from the movie John Carter
After watching the video about the quarry, then watch the movie John Carter if you haven’t already. Movie from the fantasy category of 2012, as they say in every fairy tale there is some truth. I read somewhere that it failed at the box office. Or maybe there is a reason for this?
Below I have posted an excerpt from the film.
I was especially impressed by the conversation with the thorn that all planets have the same fate - overpopulation and destruction as such.
Well, what is your goal? - asked John Carter.
He answered - but it doesn’t exist, we are not haunted by the specter of mortality like you, we are immortal. We played these games when this planet (Mars) did not yet exist and we will play it after yours (Earth) disappears.
But we are not the ones who bring the planets to destruction, captain, we control them, we feed on them, if you like. But the same thing happens on every planet... population growth, division in society, widespread wars.
And at this time the planet is devastated and quietly fading away.
Remember what's been going on with us lately? The world's population has exceeded 7 billion, there is division in society between the poor and the very rich, and constant wars.
And there is no doubt that it is being devastated, just from Russia how much is being extracted and taken away in an unknown direction. But who and where is unknown, and it is unlikely that we will find out.
And how much timber they put in our Siberia is simply appalling. Although this is not a forest, and we don’t have trees, these are all bushes compared to what... however, watch the video below.
There are no forests on earth
Watch this video and you will be shocked that all these mountains, which we are accustomed to taking for trunk mountains, are not mountains at all, but... the stumps of large trees.
I used to be amazed at the shapes of some mountains and suspected that they were probably artificially created. But it didn’t even occur to me that this was the base of a tree.
Waterfalls from the mountains, where does so much water come from?
As a continuation of the previous video, watch the video about waterfalls. Decide for yourself how plausible this is, I’m not imposing anything on you, I’m just giving food for thought.
Life under the dome
Let's return to the topic of flat earth. In general, I wanted to publish this article back in September 2017, but I considered this topic nonsense, and it remained gathering dust in my drafts. But having collected some arguments, I returned and supplemented the article with information that I thought was interesting. And the article gained the right to life.
Back in the fall of 2017, when meeting a friend, a conversation came up, did you see a video on YouTube about the fact that the earth is flat?
I say: I saw it, but I don’t quite believe it. And this is what he answered me...
He remembered one film starring Jim Carrey. The plot is that the main character lived for 30 years in the largest film studio in the form of an island under a dome.
Walked around usual life, people went to work and back, drove cars, day turned into night, there were rains, nothing strange in general, except for one thing...
There were all actors around, except for that one man named Truman.
Without suspecting anything, for many years he thought that everything around him was true and did not doubt it. Until one girl couldn’t stand it and told him the truth, which shocked him a little.
Afterwards, he found more and more evidence that everything around him was false and decided to leave the island. But they prevented him from doing this in every possible way, and then one night he escapes.
However, you can watch this film yourself, it’s called The Truman Show. Oddly enough, the film is from 1998, but I didn’t even know about this film if a friend hadn’t told me about it.
And so I began to understand what he was driving at.
Have you ever thought that everything around us is an illusion, a deception that we accept as the truth. Once upon a time, everyone believed that the earth was flat and stood on three elephants, and elephants on a turtle.
Now this seems nonsense, doesn’t it? And we believe that the earth is spherical and revolves around the sun. Is this really true? Maybe this is all a matrix and we live in this program and are being watched from the outside.
Or maybe we all live under such a dome and the earth is not round at all?
Why is it that when we look at the sky at night, we see stars. And pictures from space show that the sky is black and there are no stars. Who to believe? Your eyes? Or maybe there is a dome on top, and the stars are just a hologram.
Well, you’re probably thinking now that I’m crazy and making things up here. Then tell me, where is it really? But there is no truth. We live our lives here in our own little world and entertain the viewer named God.
No, of course the earth is spherical, spinning around its axis and around the sun. There is a universe where there are many stars, but no one knows what is there next.
Have you ever wondered if there are other planets like ours in the universe?
I will say this, when the overall picture is built and you understand how it all works, your soul simply becomes calmer from the awareness and understanding of the rules of the game in this world.
Who thinks about this, write down in the comments. Be sure to share this article with your friends by clicking on the special social media buttons below.
I was with you, Ruslan Miftakhov
People have long known that the Earth is round, and they are finding more and more new ways to show that our world is not flat. And yet, even in 2016, there are quite a few people on the planet who firmly believe that the Earth is not round. These are scary people, they tend to believe in conspiracy theories, and it's hard to argue with them. But they do exist. So is the Flat Earth Society. It becomes funny just thinking about their possible arguments. But the history of our species was interesting and quirky, even firmly established truths were refuted. You don't have to resort to complicated formulas to dispel the flat Earth conspiracy theory.
Just look around and check ten times: the Earth is definitely, inevitably, completely and absolutely not 100% flat.
Moon
Today people already know that the Moon is not a piece of cheese or a playful deity, and the phenomena of our satellite are well explained by modern science. But the ancient Greeks had no idea what it was, and in their search for an answer, they made some insightful observations that allowed people to determine the shape of our planet.
Aristotle (who made quite a few observations about the spherical nature of the Earth) noted that during lunar eclipses (when the Earth's orbit places the planet exactly between the Sun and the Moon, creating a shadow), the shadow on the lunar surface is circular. This shadow is the Earth, and the shadow cast by it directly indicates the spherical shape of the planet.
Since the Earth rotates (look up the Foucault pendulum experiment if in doubt), the oval shadow that appears during each lunar eclipse indicates not only that the Earth is round, but also not flat.
Ships and horizon
If you've been in port recently, or just strolled along the beach, looking at the horizon, you may have noticed a very interesting phenomenon: approaching ships don't just "emerge" from the horizon (as they would if the world were flat), but rather emerge from the sea. The reason that ships literally “come out of the waves” is because our world is not flat, but round.
Imagine an ant walking along the surface of an orange. If you look at an orange from a close distance, with your nose to the fruit, you will see how the ant's body slowly rises above the horizon due to the curvature of the orange's surface. If you do this experiment with a long road, the effect will be different: the ant will slowly “materialize” into your field of view, depending on how sharp your vision is.
Change of constellations
This observation was first made by Aristotle, who declared the Earth to be round by observing the change of constellations when crossing the equator.
Returning from a trip to Egypt, Aristotle noted that “stars are observed in Egypt and Cyprus that were not seen in the northern regions.” This phenomenon can only be explained by the fact that people look at the stars from a round surface. Aristotle continued and stated that the sphere of the Earth “is of small size, for otherwise the effect of such a slight change of terrain would not have manifested itself so quickly.”
Shadows and sticks
If you stick a stick into the ground, it will provide shade. The shadow moves as time passes (based on this principle, ancient people invented sundials). If the world were flat, two sticks in different places would produce the same shadow.
But this doesn't happen. Because the Earth is round, not flat.
Eratosthenes (276–194 BC) used this principle to calculate the circumference of the Earth with good accuracy.
The higher you go, the farther you can see
Standing on a flat plateau, you look towards the horizon away from you. You strain your eyes, then take out your favorite binoculars and look through them as far as your eyes can see (using binocular lenses).
Then you climb the nearest tree - the higher the better, the main thing is not to drop your binoculars. And again look, straining your eyes, through binoculars to the horizon.
The higher you climb, the further you will see. Usually we tend to associate this with obstacles on Earth, when the forest is not visible for the trees, and freedom is not visible for the concrete jungle. But if you stand on a perfectly clear plateau, with no obstacles between you and the horizon, you will see much more from above than from the ground.
It's all about the curvature of the Earth, of course, and this wouldn't happen if the Earth were flat.
Flying an airplane
If you've ever flown out of the country, especially somewhere far away, you might have noticed two interesting facts about airplanes and the Earth:
Planes can fly in a relatively straight line for a very long time without falling off the edge of the world. They can also fly around the Earth without stopping.
If you look out the window on a transatlantic flight, most of the time you will see the curvature of the earth on the horizon. The best kind of curvature was on the Concorde, but that plane is long gone. From Virgin Galactic's new plane, the horizon should be completely curved.
Look at other planets!
The Earth is different from others, and that is undeniable. After all, we have life, and we have not yet found planets with life. However, all planets have similar characteristics, and it would be logical to assume that if all planets behave in a certain way or exhibit specific properties - especially if the planets are separated by distance or formed under different circumstances - then our planet is similar.
In other words, if there are so many planets that formed in different places and under different conditions, but have similar properties, most likely our planet will be one. From our observations, it became clear that the planets are round (and since we knew how they formed, we know why they are shaped that way). There's no reason to think our planet won't be the same.
In 1610, Galileo Galilei observed the rotation of the moons of Jupiter. He described them as small planets orbiting a large planet - a description (and observation) that the church did not like because it challenged the geocentric model in which everything revolved around the Earth. This observation also showed that the planets (Jupiter, Neptune, and later Venus) are spherical and revolve around the Sun.
A flat planet (ours or any other) would be so incredible to observe that it would overturn almost everything we know about the formation and behavior of planets. This will not only change everything we know about the formation of planets, but also about the formation of stars (since our Sun must behave differently to accommodate the flat Earth theory), the speed and movement of cosmic bodies. In short, we don't just suspect that our Earth is round - we know it.
The existence of time zones
In Beijing it is now 12 midnight, no sun. It's 12 noon in New York. The sun is at its zenith, although it is difficult to see under the clouds. It's one thirty in the morning in Adelaide, Australia. The sun will not rise very soon.
This could only be explained by the fact that the Earth is round and rotates around its own axis. At a certain point, when the sun is shining on one part of the Earth, it is dark on the other end, and vice versa. This is where time zones come into play.
Another point. If the sun were a "spotlight" (its light shining directly on a specific area) and the world was flat, we would see the sun even if it wasn't shining above us. In much the same way, you can see the light of a spotlight on a theater stage while remaining in the shadows. The only way to create two completely separate time zones, one of which will always be in the dark and the other in the light, is to have a spherical world.
Center of gravity
There's an interesting fact about our mass: it attracts things. The force of attraction (gravity) between two objects depends on their mass and the distance between them. Simply put, gravity will pull toward the center of mass of objects. To find the center of mass, you need to study the object.
Imagine a sphere. Because of the shape of the sphere, no matter where you stand, there will be the same amount of sphere underneath you. (Imagine an ant walking on a glass ball. From the ant's point of view, the only sign of movement will be the movement of the ant's legs. The shape of the surface will not change at all). The center of mass of a sphere is at the center of the sphere, meaning gravity pulls everything on the surface towards the center of the sphere (straight down), regardless of the object's location.
Let's consider a plane. The center of mass of the plane is at the center, so the force of gravity will pull everything on the surface towards the center of the plane. This means that if you are on the edge of the plane, gravity will pull you towards the center, and not down, as we are used to.
And even in Australia, apples fall from top to bottom, not from side to side.
Photos from space
Over the past 60 years of space exploration, we have launched many satellites, probes, and people into space. Some of them returned, some continue to remain in orbit and transmit beautiful images to Earth. And in all the photographs the Earth (attention) is round.
If your child asks how we know the Earth is round, take the trouble to explain.
“Vasechkin, prove to us that the Earth is round.” - “But I didn’t say that.”
Today we find it easy to laugh at dialogue from a popular children's film. And once upon a time, the shape of planet Earth was the subject of fierce discussions between scientists and was even a bargaining chip in human destinies. For every piece of evidence from supporters of the “round” theory, there were many refutations. Today this issue has been removed from the agenda. Photographs taken from space confirm: the Earth resembles a ball, an orange, a tennis ball, although not perfectly smooth in contour. If Vasechkin had been a diligent student, he would have easily proven this...
How ideas about the shape of the Earth have changed
In the days before our era, science, if it could be considered such, was based on myths, legends and simple observations. The huge starry sky above our heads gave rise to many different fantasies about the structure of the Universe, the astronomical objects inhabiting it, their appearance and forms of interaction.
Later, religion made its contribution to ideas about what our planet looks like, what it rests on and why it rotates. The Creator has his own laws of the universe, so the arguments given by scientists were often questioned or refuted, and the authors of the hypotheses themselves were persecuted.
Versions about whales, elephants and a giant turtle holding a large flat disk called planet Earth seem naive today. However, for a long time they were considered the only true ones.
The Greeks had a rather original theory about the shape of the Earth. The flat cosmic body is supposedly located under the cap of the celestial hemisphere and is connected to the stars by invisible threads. And the moon and the sun are not objects of the Universe, but divine creations.
Modern hypotheses regarding the flat configuration of the planet were also very peculiar. In order to defend this version, even the so-called Flat Earth Society appeared. Assumptions about a round shape were completely rejected, and the theory itself was presented in the eyes of its opponents as a conspiracy and a set of pseudoscientific fabrications.
Proponents of the flat earth form argued that:
- The Earth is a flattened disk with a diameter of 40 thousand kilometers centered near the North Pole.
- The sun, moon and stars do not move around the planet, but seem to hang above its surface.
- The South Pole does not exist. Antarctica is an ice wall located along the contour of the planetary disk.
- The sun, with a diameter of 51 kilometers, is located above the Earth at a distance of about 5 thousand kilometers and illuminates it like a powerful spotlight.
But the main arguments for the inconsistency of the “round” theory were the statements that man did not fly into space, did not land on the Moon, all space photographs of the Earth are falsifications, scientific institutions are in collusion with the governments of pseudo-space powers, and all inhabitants of the planet are part of a big secret experiment.
It is clear that such statements cannot be taken seriously, because such “evidence” has nothing to do with science.
The most famous theories that the Earth is round
Let's go back to the history of early times. Doubts regarding the fact that the Earth has a flat surface did not leave scientists. If this is so, they reasoned, the celestial bodies should be in the same visibility zone, and the time of day should be the same in all corners of the planet.
However, the sun at different zones and latitudes continued to rise and set at different periods, and the stars that shone brightly at one point were invisible at another. All this proved that the Earth has any surface shape except flat.
In the 5th-6th century BC, Pythagoras recounted in detail in his work the impressions of one sailor from traveling in the Mediterranean Sea. It was a real diary of observations, which the scientist carefully analyzed. It was on the basis of these stories that the scientist suggested that the earth might resemble a large ball.
In the 4th century BC, Aristotle spoke in favor of a spherical shape. He cited three, now classic, proofs:
- When an eclipse occurs on the Moon, which is located next to the Earth, the shadow cast from our planet has an arc-shaped outline. This can only happen if the object the light hits is a ball.
- Ships leaving for the sea do not “dissolve” gradually as they move away, but seem to fall into the water, approaching the horizon.
- The stars that people love to look at can be admired in one part of the Earth, but remain invisible in another.
The fact that our planet is a ball was among the first to be proven by the ancient Greek scientist Eratosthenes. He made his conclusions using a specially designed pole, which cast a shadow in sunlight.
By observing the position of the sun simultaneously in different populated areas, the scientist was able to measure the height of the sun at its zenith and compare the indicators with each other.
It turned out that the points of the sun's position relative to the earth's surface are at an angle to each other. This proved that the planet has a round shape. Eratosthenes even managed to measure half the diameter of the globe. Surprisingly, modern calculations practically coincided with the indicators of the ancient scientist. The size of the Earth in radius today is almost 6400 kilometers.
There are versions of researchers that the shape of the planet is not perfectly round, but uneven, sometimes flattened on the sides. It even more closely resembles an ellipse, although this is not noticeable from photographs from space.
It is worth remembering that Newton also argued that the circumference of the earth’s sphere is not a figure that a modern schoolchild can draw with a compass. Modern space discoveries and measurements have shown that the diameter of the Earth is indeed not the same everywhere.
In the 19th century, the German mathematician and astronomer Friedrich Bessel was able to calculate the radii in places where the planet is compressed. Researchers used these data until the 20th century.
Already in our time, the Soviet scientist Theodosius Krasovsky presented more accurate measurements to the academic community. According to these data, the difference between the equatorial and polar radii is 21 kilometers.
And finally, according to the latest scientific hypotheses, the planet has the shape of a so-called geoid. It is different everywhere and depends on the height of the hills located on it, the depth of the depressions, as well as the intensity of water movements in the world's oceans.
However, the fact that our planet has the shape of a three-dimensional circle has long been beyond doubt. And the presence of many existing versions on this issue proves: the Earth is a unique space object, the mysteries of which scientists are still trying to unravel.
Top 10 evidence that the Earth is round
So, if schoolboy Petya Vasechkin learned his lesson and presented the ten most common (and now generally accepted by humanity) evidence of the sphericity of our planet, this is what he would list.
- During a lunar eclipse, when the Earth's satellite enters the shadow cast by our planet, it is clear that the reflection has the shape of a circle, a circular segment or an arc from it, depending on the degree of darkness. This is why when the Moon darkens, it turns into a crescent rather than half a triangle or a square.
- Ships moving away from the shore do not dissolve, going beyond the horizon, but seem to fall beyond it. This means that the planet is changing its curve. So the worm, moving along the surface of the apple, changes the trajectory of its movement. The fact that ships do not fall from top to bottom, as one might assume, is explained by the fact that the earth is constantly turning, aligning the guides for further linear movement. And of course, a spherical figure is characterized by a shift in gravity towards the center.
- In different hemispheres of the globe you can see different constellations. If you imagine a flat table with a lampshade hanging above it, it is equally visible from every point of the table. If you place a ball under the lampshade, the lamp at the bottom will not be visible. Constellations that are clearly visible in the northern hemisphere of the Earth should not be looked for in the sky of the southern hemisphere and vice versa.
- The length of shadows that fall on a flat surface has the same indicators. Two shadows from a round object have different lengths and form an angle.
- The view of a flat surface is the same from any height. If you rise above something spherical, then you have the opportunity to observe more distantly. The prospect in this case increases.
- Photographs taken from an airplane at various altitudes show that the Earth has curves. If the earth were flat, it would look level from any height. If you take a trip around the world, you can do it without stopping because the Earth has no “edges.”
- Photographs from aircraft, which can fly higher than airplanes, clearly demonstrate that the horizon does not have a straight contour, but a curved contour.
- There are several time zones on our big planet. When dawn comes in one, the sun sets below the horizon in the other. This is how a spherical body rotates around its axis. If the sun illuminated a flat surface, people would not know nights.
- Everything on the Earth's surface is attracted toward the planet's core. It is for spherical objects that the center of mass shifts to the middle.
- Since 1946, we have been able to take photographs of the Earth from space. All of them are the best visual evidence that we live on a ball.