The Library of Congress holds books, journal articles and other resources that explore unconventional theories about the shape of the Earth. This post focuses on maps that show the Earth in unusual forms.
Early civilizations held diverse beliefs about the shape of the Earth. Some believed that the Earth was flat or that it was floating on water. Below is a diagram of an ancient theory about the Earth’s form. The diagram was derived from an article by O.C. Whitehouse, a 19th century professor and expert in ancient Hebrew literature. The Earth is represented as a disc, enclosed in a vault and surrounded by an ocean.
The concept of a spherical Earth started to gain acceptance in the third century BC. Aristotle, Parmenides, and other ancient philosophers correctly stated that the Earth is spherical in shape. The astronomer Aristarchus of Samos believed that the Earth revolved around the sun. Aristarchus measured the circumference of the Earth and Moon by observing the Earth’s circular shadow on the Moon during a lunar eclipse. The geographer and mathematician Claudius Ptolemy described the Earth as a sphere with the Sun and planets revolving around it; this concept is known as the geocentric model of the universe.
The idea of a spherical Earth continued to be recognized throughout the Middle Ages; however, there were skeptics. In the year AD 550, Cosmas Indicopleustes, a merchant and writer, described the world as a giant mountain, enclosed in a vault and surrounded by water. Noted geographer and historian Johann Georg Kohl traced this representation of Cosmas’s theory from a print in the French publication Voyageurs Anciens et Modernes.
Samuel Rowbotham passed away in 1884; however, the number of individuals supporting the flat Earth theory continued to grow. Featured below are two maps that were made after Rowbotham’s death.
In 1893, an American professor named Orlando Ferguson created the Map of the Square and Stationary Earth. Professor Ferguson based his beliefs on a biblical passage which describes four angels standing at the corners of the Earth.
Detailed below is an illustration from the map. Two men are desperately clinging to a spherical Earth as it travels 65,000 miles per hour around the Sun.
Next is a map created in 1920 by another American professor, John G. Abizaid. Professor Abizaid believed that the Earth is flat and stationary with the Sun, Moon, and stars in constant motion. Abizaid shared his theories in his book The Enlightenment of the World.
The number of flat Earth advocates increased during the 20th century. In 1956, Samuel Shenton, a conspiracy theorist and lecturer, founded the International Flat Earth Research Society. As of today, flat Earth research organizations remain active.
I have included some background information regarding unconventional beliefs about the Earth’s shape; discover more through the sources listed below.
Further Reading:
- The Flat Earth and Its Advocates, a Library of Congress research guide prepared by Sean Bryant, Science Reference Specialist, Science, Technology and Business Division. This guide is adapted from a 1998 reference list created by Ruth Freitag titled “The Flat Earth and its Advocates: A List of References.” The guide provides links to books and journal articles on the pseudoscientific theory that the earth is a flat disc.
- The Atlas of Legendary Lands : Fabled Kingdoms, Phantom Islands, Lost Continents and Other Mythical Worlds by Judith A. McLeod. (pages 20-25).
- The Phantom Atlas : The Greatest Myths, Lies and Blunders on Maps by Edward Brooke-Hitching. (pages 102-105).
Comments (14)
Yeah. This place is totally flat. We have no clue where we live, the time period we are in, who we are as humans. We have no clue, but there are those of us coming to understand these things and the basis is understanding that this place doesn’t curve and it doesn’t move at all
so sigma
YOU FORGOT THE VERY TRUE DINOSAUR EARTH THEORY
We should stop using the word “FLAT” earth.
IT IS NOT FLAT.
Vlad, you actually might be onto nothing!
I’ve traveled all over the Americas, it all looks flat to me from the airplanes at high altitudes.
Vlad, you are right on point
Four Hundred Passages in the Bible that Condemn the Globe Theory, or the Flying Earth, and None Sustain It…Orlando Ferguson. 1893.
Where might I find these four hundred passages listed?
Thank you.
Sincerely, Michael
I have not found a list. You may find information in Orlando Ferguson’s book “The Square World: Why People are Being Deceived on Astronomy and Religion.” The book is available on Google Books.
This place is flat. If the earth was a globe then 100 miles would produce over 6,000 feet of curvature and planes would constantly have to drop altitude traveling at 500mph. The military uses rail guns that shoot 100 miles on the sea in a straight line. No curve is obvious.
It’s now 2026. Grown adults believing that the earth is flat would be funny if it weren’t so sad.
If the Earth was truly a Flat disk how was it that Magellan was able to circumnavigate the the ocean and return to the point of departure on a Westwardly bearing. Wouldn’t he eventually have had to change coarse to a Eastwardly bearing using a reverse asmyth. Circumnavigation is imposible on a flat surface. Also the Earth’s shadow on the moon would be oblong and not a perfect circle if the Earth was flat. People don’t really go to school and get degrees in Flat-Earthology, do they?
So many people commit suicide by jumping from bridges and other elevated structures. No one has ever jumped from the edge of the earth. Why? Because there is no edge. Because it is not flat. And with the millions of flat earth believers out there….how is it that not one single person has yet to show any documentation in the form of pictures or video to back your ‘flat earth’ beliefs? I would think there would be at least one, out of all the millions of you flat earth believers, who would want to go down in history, as the most famous person, who finally proved a flat earth. I rest my case. The earth is not flat
Vlad, you are in a sad state of existence if you have no idea where you live, what time period you live in and who you are as a human being. That has to be one of the most ridiculous arguments for flat earth I have come across. Flat-earthers need to find some new, factual evidence for the theory. Mat, Michelle, and JoJo are absolutely correct. I was actually wondering myself, why if the earth is flat, doesn’t it present that way during an eclipse? You can clearly see a curved shape moving across. Not anything with corners, as the four corners of the earth, and I have read the bible through many times, yet have not seen once where God condemns a globe earth. Talk about grasping at straws. Most of the arguments I have encountered for flat earth are so convoluted and far-fetched, it gives me a headache listening to it, One side is wrong and one side is right. The more logical conclusion is to believe in a globe earth.