96. On approach to the light on Sharpe's Island the elevation of the light should change noticeably on a spherical Earth
“From “100 Proofs the Earth is Not a Globe” by William Carpenter, “If we take a journey down the Chesapeake Bay, by night, we shall see the ‘light’ exhibited at Sharpe's Island for an hour before the steamer gets to it. We may take up a position on the deck so that the rail of the vessel's side will be in a line with the ‘light’ and in the line of sight; and we shall find that in the whole journey the light won’t vary in the slightest degree in its apparent elevation. But, say that a distance of thirteen miles has been traversed, the astronomers’ theory of ‘curvature’ demands a difference (one way or the other!) in the apparent elevation of the light, of 112 feet 8 inches! Since, however, there is not a difference of 100 hair's breadths, we have a plain proof that the water of the Chesapeake Bay is not curved, which is a proof that the Earth is not a globe .””
This is an obviously fabricated observation
Chesapeake Bay is generally calm, but the idea that a steamer under power could progress without any rocking at all is ridiculous. So the idea that the light "won’t vary in the slightest degree in its apparent elevation" and not change position less than "100 hair's breadths" is obviously false.
But just to be sure let us actually do the maths. Lets be generous and say that 100 hairs measures half an inch.
Carpenter does not give us the distance that he stands from the ship rail, but let us guess at 10 feet.
The angular difference of half an inch at 10 feet is 0.24 of one degree.
So the steamer would have to have been consistently rocking less than ¼ of a degree for the whole 1 hour journey.
But for the sake of argument let us assume that the Earth is flat and that the sea is absolutely calm and the moving steamer does not rock at all, the observations as described are impossible since perspective would move the light higher relative to the rail as the steamer approached.
The observation stated that the light was actually reached so the difference would have to be significant and easily viewed with the naked eye.
The most likely answer then is that the observer, not understanding perspective, simply made up this all up without understanding that his made up observations were impossible.
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This is an obviously fabricated observation
Chesapeake Bay is generally calm, but the idea that a steamer under power could progress without any rocking at all is ridiculous. So the idea that the light "won’t vary in the slightest degree in its apparent elevation" and not change position less than "100 hair's breadths" is obviously false.
But just to be sure let us actually do the maths. Lets be generous and say that 100 hairs measures half an inch.
Carpenter does not give us the distance that he stands from the ship rail, but let us guess at 10 feet.
The angular difference of half an inch at 10 feet is 0.24 of one degree.
So the steamer would have to have been consistently rocking less than ¼ of a degree for the whole 1 hour journey.
But for the sake of argument let us assume that the Earth is flat and that the sea is absolutely calm and the moving steamer does not rock at all, the observations as described are impossible since perspective would move the light higher relative to the rail as the steamer approached.
The observation stated that the light was actually reached so the difference would have to be significant and easily viewed with the naked eye.
The most likely answer then is that the observer, not understanding perspective, simply made up this all up without understanding that his made up observations were impossible.
< Prev 91-100 Next >
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