Monday, August 4, 2008

Flat-Earth

There is an article on the BBC about flat-earthers. Now, I don't believe the earth is flat, but at least I can admit that I'm only really basing that belief on what others tell me.

Anyways, the best part of the article is the comment section where people use really lame 'proofs' that the earth is round.

NO PICS FOR YOU! I wasn't able to get it up(load).

6 comments:

Napoleon Bonerpants said...

I like flat-earthers, they're not afraid to question. I will accept that the Earth is round as it seems highly logical but this isn't so crazy. I like how the article keeps taking for granted that pictures from space are irrefutable proof for an individual who has never been to space. The writer needs to brush up on his Descartes. If that's the main argument to defend a round earth, the flat-earthers are a step ahead.

Master of the Craw said...

Well, this is clearly a case of idiots trying to convince morons.

Somehow the history of navigation, radio transmission and the ability to calculate and predict the location of all regular celestial bodies aren't enough. No, apparently the real proof is a picture from space... but, if you still need proof:

Eratosthenes (276 BCE - 194 BCE) estimated Earth's circumference around 240 BCE. He had heard that in Syene the Sun was directly overhead at the summer solstice whereas in Alexandria it still cast a shadow. Using the differing angles the shadows made as the basis of his trigonometric calculations he estimated a circumference of around 250,000 stades. The length of a 'stade' is not precisely known, but Eratosthenes' figure only has an error of around five to ten percent.
yes, someone solved this thousands of years ago with a stick and math a high school kid can figure out.

Barbarosa said...

'' he estimated a circumference of around 250,000 stades. The length of a 'stade' is not precisely known, but Eratosthenes' figure only has an error of around five to ten percent.''

I'm not doubting Eratosthenes, nor the writers of the article you quoted; but I certainly am doubting their ability to formulate coherent text.

Napoleon Bonerpants said...

Oh man, I just got an angry phone call from Buzz Aldrin

Master of the Craw said...

Maybe I've been on shitty websites with improper English for too long but I don't see what's wrong with that sentence. It's not eloquent, but it isn't wrong either.

Anonymous said...

Oopsy. I did not notice the ''precisely'' in the sentence. I was under the impression that they did not know how long the measurement was yet knew it was only 5-10% wrong...