Wowbagger
The Infinitely Prolonged
On a recent flight to Los Angeles, I was able to take the nice photo of the world outside the window, as attached. Notice that, even from this high up, the land does NOT appear to be curved? Well, I got to thinking that this OBVIOUS lack of curvature is a signature problem in all photos taken from the sky, and those with curvature of the atmosphere are often due more to lens distortion, than to the actual shape of the Earth.
Now, I am NOT suggesting that the Earth is entirely flat, of course. It could be a sort-of lumpy, semi-curved type of disc, because of all of its mountains and stuff. But, the mainstream idea that it is "almost perfectly spherical" is obviously seriously flawed!! And yet, even today, as we enter the second quarter of 2018, we still see plenty of books that try to explain the older view, from back in the Galilean era. Also attached is a photo of a small pile of such science books in my own collection.
This is probably one of the most common flaws found in a LOT of so-called "science" books about the planet Earth. Perhaps the authors are often sincere in wanted to portray this belief, and don't know any better: I DOUBT it is all a vast conspiracy from some central cabal of nefarious rulers, or anything like that. But, perhaps we can discuss ways to communicate alternative, better, and more obviously correct models of the planet, to more of these folks.
Now, I am NOT suggesting that the Earth is entirely flat, of course. It could be a sort-of lumpy, semi-curved type of disc, because of all of its mountains and stuff. But, the mainstream idea that it is "almost perfectly spherical" is obviously seriously flawed!! And yet, even today, as we enter the second quarter of 2018, we still see plenty of books that try to explain the older view, from back in the Galilean era. Also attached is a photo of a small pile of such science books in my own collection.
This is probably one of the most common flaws found in a LOT of so-called "science" books about the planet Earth. Perhaps the authors are often sincere in wanted to portray this belief, and don't know any better: I DOUBT it is all a vast conspiracy from some central cabal of nefarious rulers, or anything like that. But, perhaps we can discuss ways to communicate alternative, better, and more obviously correct models of the planet, to more of these folks.