Toadfish Monastery

Quote from: Zan on September 29, 2009, 04:51:56 AM

Quote from: Swatopluk on November 15, 2006, 03:23:59 PM

How can you show that the Earth is roughly spherical?

But is it?  It could also be a convex disk.  I mean, if we're trying to poke holes in common knowledge.

A convex disk would satisfy pretty much all observable facts about the Earth. 

I don't want to be a party pooper but...

How about the view from orbiting spacecraft?
Also the way things fell to the ground would be at a strange angle near the edges of the disk.

Besides, I've been to Norwich. If the edge of the World was going to be anywhere it would be there, and apart from the odd dragon, stuff worked as expected.


Welcome to the site by the way.

Spacecraft don't count. Too few people that could reliably testify, and the same organisations that spread the round earth myth choose the people allowed in space.
And don't forget the possibility that the laws of optics are anisotropic.
As for the dropping paths of objects, what tells you that the density of the disc is the same everywhere. If the mass distribution is right, there should be no problem.

If the target population of this question were inclined to listen to reason a more definitive way would be the use of Foucault's Pendulum or even better, a gyroscope in different latitudes.

Quote from: Sibling Zono (anon1mat0) on September 29, 2009, 02:16:30 PM
If the target population of this question were inclined to listen to reason a more definitive way would be the use of Foucault's Pendulum or even better, a gyroscope in different latitudes.

But on a convex surface, assuming gravity operates from where the center of a sphere would be, those methods would lead you to believe that the Earth is spherical.  We can measure gravity, but we still have no idea how it works, I'm not sure we can rely on this method.

Quote from: beagle on September 29, 2009, 07:55:59 AM

Quote from: Zan on September 29, 2009, 04:51:56 AM

Quote from: Swatopluk on November 15, 2006, 03:23:59 PM

How can you show that the Earth is roughly spherical?

But is it?  It could also be a convex disk.  I mean, if we're trying to poke holes in common knowledge.

A convex disk would satisfy pretty much all observable facts about the Earth. 

I don't want to be a party pooper but...

How about the view from orbiting spacecraft?
Also the way things fell to the ground would be at a strange angle near the edges of the disk.

Besides, I've been to Norwich. If the edge of the World was going to be anywhere it would be there, and apart from the odd dragon, stuff worked as expected.


Welcome to the site by the way.

1.  Thanks for the welcome.

2.  The "moon landing was a hoax" crowd wouldn't buy that argument (and I must say, it was awfully nice of Russia not to bust out the US Government's claim by using radar to NOT see the Apollo spacecraft).  Also, the small number of people who have actually been in space would be easy to bribe or threaten into compliance, assuming there was a reason to do so (the physics lobby is the most vicious of all Washington power groups, I am told.  They make Wackenhutt look like the Mothers March Against Dyspepsia).

Thanks for the warning about the physicists. I always knew those people were weird.

They're the worst.  When they're not hanging around the science fiction sections of used bookstores trying to look menacing, they're out oppressing Christian Conservatives with their "science" and their "reality" and insisting that schoolchildren get taught "heliocentrism" and other rubbish.

Quote from: beagle on September 29, 2009, 04:37:11 PM
Thanks for the warning about the physicists. I always knew those people were weird.

Quote from: Zan on September 29, 2009, 02:55:47 PM

Quote from: Sibling Zono (anon1mat0) on September 29, 2009, 02:16:30 PM
If the target population of this question were inclined to listen to reason a more definitive way would be the use of Foucault's Pendulum or even better, a gyroscope in different latitudes.

But on a convex surface, assuming gravity operates from where the center of a sphere would be, those methods would lead you to believe that the Earth is spherical.  We can measure gravity, but we still have no idea how it works, I'm not sure we can rely on this method.

Oh, but you can: pack the 'skeptics' in a boat going out from Iceland to Cabo de Hornos and make periodic measurements. The readings would suggest a too convex Earth, almost spherical...

Quote from: Sibling Zono (anon1mat0) on September 29, 2009, 05:13:23 PM

Quote from: Zan on September 29, 2009, 02:55:47 PM

Quote from: Sibling Zono (anon1mat0) on September 29, 2009, 02:16:30 PM
If the target population of this question were inclined to listen to reason a more definitive way would be the use of Foucault's Pendulum or even better, a gyroscope in different latitudes.

But on a convex surface, assuming gravity operates from where the center of a sphere would be, those methods would lead you to believe that the Earth is spherical.  We can measure gravity, but we still have no idea how it works, I'm not sure we can rely on this method.

Oh, but you can: pack the 'skeptics' in a boat going out from Iceland to Cabo de Hornos and make periodic measurements. The readings would suggest a too convex Earth, almost spherical...

Well, okay, but I insist on choosing the boat.  After all, there's no need for people like that to return from their mission, given that they wouldn't change their opinion anyway...plus, it would be a just punishment for ruining Omni magazine with their silliness, back in the 80s. 

It also occurs to me that a carrot-shaped Earth with the people living on the "top" would work, if you're willing to abandon heliocentrism.

We tried sending all the strange people off on a boat once before. It didn't work out quite as planned.

Quote from: beagle on September 29, 2009, 05:24:28 PM
We tried sending all the strange people off on a boat once before. It didn't work out quite as planned.

And don't think we haven't noticed.  What's really funny about Fat City is that many Americans think Fat City won the revolutionary war...while, in reality, England spent 200 years getting rid of their religious crazies (to wit, the Puritans), and then left after being "defeated" at Yorktown.

Now we have things like the Orwellian-named "Liberty University" and Robert Tilton.  We'd get revenge, but we're too busy trying to keep the nutjobs from telling us how we can live.

(Note:  The above does not reflect my opinion on Christians in general, of course.  Most Christians I now are very good people, and cause me no trouble at all.)

Quote from: beagle on September 29, 2009, 07:55:59 AM
Besides, I've been to Norwich. If the edge of the World was going to be anywhere it would be there, and apart from the odd dragon, stuff worked as expected.

I always thought it would be Grimsby.

Has anyone ever considered that the earth magnified from space must look like our commonly depicted viruses - what with lots of people sticking out from its surface?

Quote from: Griffin NoName on September 29, 2009, 08:19:43 PM

Quote from: beagle on September 29, 2009, 07:55:59 AM
Besides, I've been to Norwich. If the edge of the World was going to be anywhere it would be there, and apart from the odd dragon, stuff worked as expected.

I always thought it would be Grimsby.

Has anyone ever considered that the earth magnified from space must look like our commonly depicted viruses - what with lots of people sticking out from its surface?

So we're all part of one huge herpes virus?

That explains more things than I care to think about.


edited for endqoute ~Griffin

I forget the details of which sci-fi story, but from space aren't we just parasites that infest cars. Some friendly aliens might help the cars with pest control.

Quote from: beagle on September 30, 2009, 08:01:13 PM
I forget the details of which sci-fi story, but from space aren't we just parasites that infest cars. Some friendly aliens might help the cars with pest control.

Optimist.