Flat Earth Society

The Flat Earth Society is an organization that promotes the view that the earth was flat.

The modern movement for the propagation of the view that the earth was flat, was founded by Samuel Rowbotham (1816-1884), who was thereby led by the religious conviction, certain parts of the Bible testified that the earth is flat. In 1849 he published a 16-page script, which he later expanded into a 430 -page book.

After Rowbothams view of the earth is a flat disc with the north pole in the center, surrounded in the south by a Eiswall. The stars move a few hundred miles above.

Rowbotham and his followers were known by fierce debates that have taken her with scientists of their time. Such a debate with Alfred Russel Wallace led to numerous processes.

After Rowbothams death his followers founded the Universal Zetetic Society, which published the magazine The Earth Not a Globe Review. After the First World War began a slow decline of the movement.

In the United States Rowbothams were taken ideas from religion Community Christian Catholic Apostolic Church. Launched by John Alexander Dowie in 1895, a religious community founded a theocratic community in Zion ( Illinois), 70 km north of Chicago. 1905 took over Wilbur Glenn Voliva the leadership of the religious community in the wake of various financial scandals, which fell apart after his death in 1942.

The Universal Zetetic Society lived from 1965, however, under the new name International Flat Earth Society further, however, initially with virtually no attention. The emerging at this time photos of Earth from space were dismissed as conspiracy. In 1971, Shenton died, and the Texans, born 1924 Charles K. Johnson became the new president of the Society. In the near future (up to 3000 readers temporarily) Newsletter and the like have been published in a larger extent. How far these readers supported the theses seriously, is not known, nor even how far the whole thing was at all serious - definitely gained the theses in this time some media attention.

After the death of Charles Johnson in March 2001, the Flat Earth Society was initially completely asleep. Meanwhile, she was reactivated by Daniel Shenton from London as the new president. Since October 2009, she advertises on its own website back to members.