The primary reason that ancient people believed that the Earth was flat was that it looks flat from our vantage point on the ground. Why did people once think that the Earth was flat?

Now, let’s backtrack to the time before satellites and telescopes. If, on the other hand, you wanted to form a flattened object using gravity alone, the force of gravity would have to depend upon two, perpendicular distances in two perpendicular directions. Each of these experiments shows that the force of gravity depends only on the mass of the two objects and the distance between them.

We can measure the behavior of gravity in the laboratory with a variety of highly sensitive experiments. There is a very deep, fundamental reason why the Earth is round: the force of gravity depends upon the distance between two interacting objects, and the only three-dimensional object you can make with a single distance is a sphere. Additionally, through the use of high-powered telescopes, we’ve been able to examine planets both in our solar system and beyond, and all of them are spherical in shape.

OK, so how do we know - scientifically - that the Earth is a sphere?Īt a very basic level, we can see the Earth’s curvature through satellites that we’ve launched into space. Discoveries from that mission revolutionized our understanding of planets and planetary systems, Steffen said.Īs such, he was able to help us break down reasons why the Flat Earth Theory falls flat. For more than 10 years, Steffen was also a member of the science team for NASA’s Kepler mission. Jason Steffen, an assistant professor of physics and astronomy at UNLV, works in the field of exoplanets (planets that orbit distant stars) and has a history in experimental studies of dark matter, dark energy, and gravity. The documentary follows several people who espouse the Flat Earth Theory, which is the belief that the Earth is a plane or a disk, and try to generate support for their cause through Internet videos, social media, podcasts, meetings, and even international conferences. This might seem like an expensive trip, but it’s one part of an experiment that can be done to disprove the Flat Earth Theory - a theory at the center of a popular new documentary - Behind the Curve - that is now streaming on Netflix. There, you won’t be able to see the North Star. Hop on a plane, and fly to Cape Town, South Africa, or Melbourne, Australia - two major cities located in the Southern Hemisphere. Do you want to prove that the Earth is round?

How did the flat earth theory start