Samuel Rowbotham

Samuel Rowbotham ( Samuel Birley Rowbotham, pseudonym Parallax, * 1816, † December 23, 1884 in London ) was an English inventor and author. He was founding figure of Zetetic Society or the Flat Earth Society, which advocated a flat earth.

In 1849 he published a 16 page pamphlet in which he based on his interpretation of some passages of the Bible was of the idea that the earth is not a sphere. In decades of work, he extended his theory and published in 1881 the book 430seitige Zetetic Astronomy: Earth Not a Globe. 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.

After death Rowbothams founded his numerous colleagues Universal Zetetic Society and published a magazine called The Earth Not a Globe Review. Rowbotham and his followers were known for numerous public debates with leading scientists. The company remained active until the 20th century, but its popularity declined significantly after the First World War back. Later Rowbothams ideas were represented by the Flat Earth Society.