# the shape of the earth? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [February 25, 2010, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shape-of-the-earth/530371 "2010-02-25T06:25:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![miriam\_hassan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@miriam\_hassan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miriam_hassan)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shape-of-the-earth/530371/1 "2010-02-25T06:25:40Z")
The shape of the earth is spherical-like a ball…is this true or is it only a scientific guess? The reason im saying this is because, the earth has almost always been viewed from a lense- a convex lense mostly. Is it possible that the shape of the earth only appears round because as the light rays pass through the lense they bend at a certain angle and the image that forms is a result of this ‘bending’. Can it be possible that if the Earth is viewed from a “special” lense, in which light rays can be bent differently, will this show a different shape of the earth from the space? ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shape-of-the-earth/530371/2 "2010-02-25T06:37:11Z")
And that, my liege, is how we know the Earth to be banana-shaped … ---
**Author:** ![Todderbob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@Todderbob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Todderbob)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shape-of-the-earth/530371/3 "2010-02-25T06:59:16Z")
Your question doesn’t make sense. Of course if you bend the light, something will look different. But the earth is (roughly) round, yes. ---
**Author:** ![Rico](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rico/32/3582_2.png) [@Rico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rico)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shape-of-the-earth/530371/4 "2010-02-25T07:27:03Z")
\ I take it you mean [this column](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/415/you-say-the-earth-is-round-prove-it)? \ ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shape-of-the-earth/530371/5 "2010-02-25T09:06:46Z")
> [@miriam\_hassan](#): > > The shape of the earth is spherical-like a ball..is this true or is it only a scientific guess? > > The reason im saying this is because, the earth has almost always been viewed from a lense- a convex lense mostly. Is it possible that the shape of the earth only appears round because as the light rays pass through the lense they bend at a certain angle and the image that forms is a result of this ‘bending’. Can it be possible that if the Earth is viewed from a “special” lense, in which light rays can be bent differently, will this show a different shape of the earth from the space? To answer your question, no. That’s not how light works. Not at all. If this isn’t a whoosh I can only hope you’re a Flat Earther. The answer is either a) if that’s how light worked everything would look round or b) you’re talking about a vast conspiracy by multiple government agencies to dupe the public into thinking the earth is round. Seriously. Government doing anything on a grand scale? no. This new learning amazes me **Todderbob**. Explain again how sheeps’ bladders may be employed to prevent earthquakes. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shape-of-the-earth/530371/6 "2010-02-25T16:15:06Z")
Eyeballs are lenses, too. So why would you trust anything that you personally see? Of course, if the earth weren’t an almost perfect sphere then the math we use for moving from one place to another on it - math that is called spherical geometry and can only work on the outside of a sphere - wouldn’t work. Yet it does. This is independent confirmation that doesn’t rely on observation. EDIT: I clicked on that column and it got shut down because an attempt was made to infect my computer. I’m not going back to check what was on it but somebody needs to. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shape-of-the-earth/530371/7 "2010-02-25T16:45:35Z")
Take a camera. It uses a convex lens. Take a picture of a box (you know, a thing with lots of right angled corners). Does the picture look like a sphere? ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shape-of-the-earth/530371/8 "2010-02-25T16:47:46Z")
> [@Knorf](#): > > And that, my liege, is how we know the Earth to be banana-shaped … …and hence, is yet another example of Intelligent Design. 'Cause, you know…it fits so perfectly in God’s hand…and has a little tab at the end to peel it open…_stop looking at me like that!_ Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Todderbob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@Todderbob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Todderbob)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shape-of-the-earth/530371/9 "2010-02-25T18:46:44Z")
> [@EvilTOJ](#): > > This new learning amazes me **Todderbob**. Explain again how sheeps’ bladders may be employed to prevent earthquakes. My point was only that it’s possible to change the apparent shape of an object by changing the shape of the lenses it’s viewed through. It would be entirely pointless and counterproductive to do so, but it’s possible. You would have more success elongating than blunting an object, but generally it’s not impossible. ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shape-of-the-earth/530371/10 "2010-02-25T18:59:33Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > EDIT: I clicked on that column and it got shut down because an attempt was made to infect my computer. I’m not going back to check what was on it but somebody needs to. Just clicked on it and didn’t get anything out of the ordinary. Not a peep from my antivirus. ---
**Author:** ![Rico](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rico/32/3582_2.png) [@Rico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rico)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shape-of-the-earth/530371/11 "2010-02-25T19:04:10Z")
Nor mine. **Exapno** , download [MalwareBytes](http://www.malwarebytes.org) and run it. Sounds like you picked up a redirect trojan somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shape-of-the-earth/530371/12 "2010-02-25T22:09:48Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > …and hence, is yet another example of Intelligent Design. 'Cause, you know…it fits so perfectly in God’s hand…and has a little tab at the end to peel it open…_stop looking at me like that!_ This new learning amazes me…Explain again how sheep’s bladders may be employed to prevent earthquakes… ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shape-of-the-earth/530371/13 "2010-02-25T22:24:38Z")
On a slight tangent, when was the Earth’s circumference first measured accurately? ---
**Author:** ![Todderbob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@Todderbob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Todderbob)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shape-of-the-earth/530371/14 "2010-02-25T22:40:08Z")
> [@ivan\_astikov](#): > > On a slight tangent, when was the Earth’s circumference first measured accurately? It wasn’t “measured,” but IIRC (and I’m not sure I do) there was an ancient Egyptian, pre-dating the Greek empire, who had a theory of a heliocentric universe and had the circumference of the Earth down quite close, but I can’t find more information about that. On the other hand, [Aristarchus of Samos](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristarchus_of_Samos#Precession) measured the length of a year very accurately (circa 230 BC). What I did find, however, was the record of [Eratosthenes](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eratosthenes), whose story matches the one that I recalled from earlier (which I think I must’ve conflated with one of the Muslim world, my bad), which had an error rate of only about 5 or 10 percent. Is that accurate enough to qualify? ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shape-of-the-earth/530371/15 "2010-02-25T22:52:03Z")
> [@Todderbob](#): > > It wasn’t “measured,” but IIRC (and I’m not sure I do) there was an ancient Egyptian, pre-dating the Greek empire, who had a theory of a heliocentric universe and had the circumference of the Earth down quite close, but I can’t find more information about that. > On the other hand, [Aristarchus of Samos](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristarchus_of_Samos#Precession) measured the length of a year very accurately (circa 230 BC). > > What I did find, however, was the record of [Eratosthenes](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eratosthenes), whose story matches the one that I recalled from earlier (which I think I must’ve conflated with one of the Muslim world, my bad), which had an error rate of only about 5 or 10 percent. Is that accurate enough to qualify? Not really. When was it undeniably accurate? ---
**Author:** ![Todderbob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@Todderbob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Todderbob)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shape-of-the-earth/530371/16 "2010-02-25T22:54:15Z")
> [@ivan\_astikov](#): > > Not really. When was it undeniably accurate? It’s still not “undeniably” accurate. It fluctuates, albeit a very small amount, constantly. It suppose wasn’t measured _extremely_ accurately (within the few hundred feet?) until after satellites were used to measure it, at least at a guess. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shape-of-the-earth/530371/17 "2010-02-25T23:02:20Z")
You know what my next question is then, don’t you? Yes, you got it - how do we know if the Earth was smaller, say 10 million years ago? ---
**Author:** ![Todderbob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@Todderbob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Todderbob)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shape-of-the-earth/530371/18 "2010-02-25T23:20:45Z")
> [@ivan\_astikov](#): > > You know what my next question is then, don’t you? > > Yes, you got it - how do we know if the Earth was smaller, say 10 million years ago? Other than that not being even remotely related to this thread… why would I have any idea that was the next question being posed? Why would we assume that it was smaller 10 million years ago? Why would we assume that it was something contrary to evidence? Evidence we have, geologically, indicates that the Earth itself was the same size. Are you implying that matter somehow spontaneously was created, or that it came from somewhere else? Or that it came from outer space? Because the Earth has had mass introduced over the past 10 million years, from outer space. Not an insignificant amount, mind you, but nothing that’s really noteworthy. ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shape-of-the-earth/530371/19 "2010-02-25T23:23:14Z")
What, pray tell, is undeniably accurate to mean anyway? ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shape-of-the-earth/530371/20 "2010-02-25T23:27:42Z")
> [@Todderbob](#): > > Other than that not being even remotely related to this thread… why would I have any idea that was the next question being posed? I was being playful. > [@Todderbob](#): > > Why would we assume that it was smaller 10 million years ago? Why should we assume it was the same size? > [@Todderbob](#): > > Why would we assume that it was something contrary to evidence? Evidence we have, geologically, indicates that the Earth itself was the same size. What evidence? You’ve just said yourself that it couldn’t be accurately measured until the advent of satellites. > [@Todderbob](#): > > Are you implying that matter somehow spontaneously was created, or that it came from somewhere else? Or that it came from outer space? Because the Earth has had mass introduced over the past 10 million years, from outer space. Not an insignificant amount, mind you, but nothing that’s really noteworthy. None of the above. > [@Grey](#): > > What, pray tell, is undeniably accurate to mean anyway? Verifiably, then. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shape-of-the-earth/530371.md?page=2)