The article discusses the concept of a flat Earth and how it has been disproven throughout history. The ancient Greeks, such as Pythagoras and Aristotle, believed in a spherical Earth, and Eratosthenes even calculated the Earth's circumference with remarkable accuracy. Despite this, the idea of a flat Earth has persisted, and in the mid-19th century, Samuel Rowbotham founded the Universal Zetetic Society, which advocated for a flat Earth.
The society's ideas were later revived by Samuel Shenton, who founded the International Flat Earth Research Society (IFERS) in 1956. IFERS claimed that the Earth was flat and that governments and scientists were conspiring to hide this fact. The society's ideas were widely discredited, but the concept of a flat Earth has continued to gain traction online.
The article also discusses a 2018 poll conducted by YouGov, which found that 84% of respondents believed the Earth was round, while 2% believed it was flat. A subsequent poll conducted by the article's authors found similar results.
The article also explores the modern Flat Earth Society's beliefs, including their claim that the Earth is disc-shaped, with the North Pole at the center, and an ice wall surrounding the outermost parts of the Earth. They also believe that the Sun and Moon are much closer to the Earth than scientists claim.
The article concludes by noting that the concept of a flat Earth is not supported by scientific evidence and that the Flat Earth Society's claims are often based on flawed logic and a lack of understanding of scientific principles.
Here are the key facts from the text:
1. Pythagoras is credited with being the first person to suggest a spherical Earth in the 6th century BC.
2. Aristotle supported the idea of a spherical Earth, using observations such as the southern constellations rising higher in the sky when traveling south.
3. Eratosthenes, a 3rd-century BC head librarian at the Library of Alexandria, calculated the circumference of the Earth with remarkable accuracy.
4. Eratosthenes used the angle of the shadow made by a rod at noon on the Summer Solstice in Alexandria to calculate the circumference of the Earth.
5. The distance between Syene and Alexandria was measured to be about 5,000 stadia, which Eratosthenes used to calculate the circumference of the Earth.
6. Eratosthenes' estimate of the Earth's circumference was either 1% too small or 16% too large, depending on the stadion measurement used.
7. Many scholars believe Eratosthenes used the Egyptian stadion measurement, which would make his estimate roughly 1% too small.
8. The Catholic Church did not suppress the idea of a spherical Earth during the Middle Ages.
9. The 7th-century Catholic monk and scholar Bede wrote an influential treatise that included a discussion of the spherical nature of the world.
10. Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy also describes the Earth as a sphere.
11. The Islamic world also accepted the idea of a spherical Earth.
12. Historian Jeffrey Burton Russell states that "with extraordinary few exceptions, no educated person in the history of Western Civilization from the third century B.C. onward believed that the Earth was flat."
13. A 2018 poll by YouGov found that 84% of respondents believed the Earth is round, 5% were skeptical, and 2% believed the Earth is flat.
14. A poll conducted by the author found that 96% of respondents believed the Earth is round, 1% were skeptical, and 1% believed the Earth is flat.
15. The modern Flat Earth movement began in the mid-19th century with Samuel Rowbotham.
16. Rowbotham claimed that the Earth was flat and that everything in the heavens was only a few thousand miles away.
17. The Flat Earth Society was established in 1956 by Samuel Shenton, who believed in a flat Earth and a conspiracy to hide the truth.
18. The society's membership peaked at around 3,000 in the 1960s and 1970s.
19. The society's current leadership advocates for a disc-shaped Earth with the North Pole at the center and an ice wall surrounding the outermost parts of the Earth.
20. The Flat Earth Society believes that GPS devices and autopilots are designed to make it seem like the Earth is round, and that the truth is being hidden by a conspiracy involving NASA and other organizations.
Note: I excluded opinions and subjective statements from the list, focusing on verifiable facts and data.