Xref: utzoo talk.religion.newage:1245 alt.flame:911
Path: utzoo!hoptoad!uunet!labrea!rutgers!sri-spam!ames!elroy!cit-vax!ucla-cs!troly
From: troly@CS.UCLA.EDU
Newsgroups: talk.religion.newage,alt.flame
Subject: Re: The flat earth
Keywords: platygaeanism
Message-ID: <9796@shemp.UCLA.EDU>
Date: 10 Dec 87 02:45:41 GMT
References: <9578@shemp.UCLA.EDU> <590@cos.COM> <4084@bellcore.bellcore.com> <17127@bu-cs.BU.EDU>
Sender: root@CS.UCLA.EDU
Reply-To: troly@CS.UCLA.EDU (Bret Jolly)
Distribution: na
Organization: UCLA
Lines: 41

In article <17127@bu-cs.BU.EDU> madd@buita.UUCP (Jim Frost) writes:
>
>About the flat earth stuff:  It's easy to show the earth is spherical
>and also to find it's diameter.  All you have to do is take the angle
>of the sun to the earth in relation to two lines (preferably
>perpendicular).  Like, angle of sun to earth along longitudinal and
>latitudinal lines (ie north-south and east-west).
>
>Do this at three points widely separated (same hemisphere) at the same
                                           ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>time on the same day and look at the data you get.  The discrepancies
>in the data will give you the angles necessary to project to the
>center of the earth. 
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

HO! HO! HO! Just because you believe in this round earth silliness doesn't
mean you can use circular (spherical? :-)) reasoning. This technique you
describe (which was used by Eratosthenes) gives you the diameter of the
earth *assuming* that the earth is spherical. 

It is ironic that round earthers always resort to simple fallacies involving
geometry, when geometry is the arena in which the chaos of modern round earth
based physics is most apparent. Curved space-time with curvature varying from
point to point! With an indefinite metric tensor! First four, then ten, then
twenty-six dimensions! *NO PATH* assignable to the motion of a particle, such
as an electron! (Honest, that's what they say!)

There's no need to be afraid. You round earth scientists won't lose your
jobs in the coming platygaean reformation. Round earth science will still
be needed because it provides solutions (via ad hoc methods, to be sure)
to vital practical problems. But isn't it time to admit that the theory has
dissolved into incoherent mumbo-jumbo? That the shaky round earth hypothesis
will no longer support the weight of the theories erected upon it?

Also, for the scientists who are not afraid to leave their childhood
prejudices behind them, these are exciting times. The foundations of platy-
gaean science are just now being laid. Wouldn't you like to join in?

                /           
Bret Jolly (Bo'-ret Tro Ly)  Mathemagus   LA Platygaean Society
             .