Flat Earth Society

Originally founded in England in the mid-1800s, the Flat Earth Society may just take the award for the most persistent group of believers to fly in the face of science. This group, just as their name suggests, holds firmly to a belief that the earth on which we live is flat as opposed to spherical. And the first thing you should know is that they're deadly serious.

Didn't Science Cover This Already?
If you're wondering about the scientific back story, the answer is that in the Middle Ages, the idea that the earth was flat was widely accepted- at least for awhile. This makes sense, in a way- just ask any child who looks out at the horizon and sees a flat line. Add to that a few literal interpretations of the Bible way back then, as well as the fact that nobody had ever gone all the way around the world and proved this theory wrong, and you'll see that at the time the thought wasn't totally ludicrous.

However, as early as the 2nd Century AD, a few scientists - among them Aristotle and Eratosthenes - had done some calculations and proved beyond a reasonable doubt that the earth was, in fact, round. Most people accepted this idea. But not all of them did, and from those early roots of disbelief come today's Flat Earthers. They may not be logical, but they're certainly persistent.

By the way, if you're still under the impression that Columbus proved that the earth was round by sailing around it, you're incorrect. That's an urban legend - a very old one - and has no basis in reality, as Columbus never sailed the full circumference of the earth. And he didn't discover America, either - believe it or not, there were people here already.

But back to our friends at the Flat Earth Society. Just how do they support these firmly held beliefs of theirs without any scientific evidence to back them up? And how have they persisted in these beliefs for so long?

Blame it on Rowbatham
The current movement of the Flat Earth Society began with a very unique-thinking Englishman named Samuel Birley Rowbatham, who took some passages from the Bible and interpreted them in his own special way, much as the early Flat Earthers had done back in the Middle Ages.

Simple lines in the Bible, such as the ones that describe Jesus ascending into heaven, convinced Rowbatham and his followers that heaven must be on a plane parallel to and above the surface of the planet - thus, the earth must be flat. According to Rowbatham's system, which he named Zetetic Astronomy, the earth is disc-shaped, with the sun, moon, and stars hanging a few hundred miles above its surface. The center of the flat earth is located at the North Pole, and the southern edge is closed off by a wall of ice.

After several years of public arguments with scientists (not to mention a few lawsuits for fraud), Rowbatham passed away in 1884; however, his beliefs were picked up by the Universal Zetetic Society and eventually adopted by follow-up groups in the United States.

Persistent in the Face of Proof
You might be asking yourself the obvious question at this point: How can the Flat Earthers continue to believe these things considering the fact that we have traveled into space and taken photographs of the earth in all its glorious roundness? The answer, of course, is simple. You know how your Great Aunt Mildred believes that the moon landing was a hoax? The Flat Earthers think so, too. Nasa, the Flat Earthers will tell you, isn't trained in anything except excellent Photoshop skills.

Still Going Strong
Today the Flat Earth Society exists without a definitive leader, but they exist nonetheless. Their latest visionary and figurehead, a man named Charles Johnson, passed away in 2001, and since that time the group has mainly been run via their website at www.theflatearthsociety.org. The group invites everyone, regardless of their personal beliefs on the subject, to visit the site and see what they're all about. I'm going to check it out just in case. After all, if there's a chance I might fall off the edge of the planet, I want to know about it beforehand.