Zetetic Astronomy: Earth Not a Globe (Annotated)
Enriched Edition. Victorian Flat Earth Experiments, Bedford Level Observations, and the Debate over Astronomical AuthorityBy Parallax, Samuel Birley Rowbotham
Length4h 33m
About this audiobook
Zetetic Astronomy: Earth Not a Globe occupies a revealing place in Victorian scientific polemic, combining observational report, scriptural appeal, argumentative pamphleteering, and popular lecture prose. Rather than an anthology of many hands, it is a compendium of heterodox claims arranged to challenge nineteenth-century astronomical consensus. Its range includes practical experiments, diagrams, rhetorical interrogations, and critiques of navigation and geology, with the celebrated Bedford Level observations serving as a defining episode in its attempt to ground cosmology in unaided sense-perception. Writing as "Parallax," Samuel Birley Rowbotham emerged from the milieu of radical Victorian popular science, religious dissent, and public disputation. His "zetetic" method—professing inquiry from direct observation rather than theoretical inference—aligned the work with broader nineteenth-century debates over expertise, empiricism, and the authority of institutions. The volume's significance lies less in its scientific validity than in its cultural afterlife: it demonstrates how alternative cosmologies were fashioned through print, performance, and appeals to common experience. Readers interested in the history of science, fringe belief, rhetoric, and Victorian intellectual culture will find this an instructive primary source. Read critically, it offers a compact opportunity to examine dissenting knowledge systems within a single volume.
This enriched edition has been carefully crafted to add value to your reading experience.
- A succinct Introduction situates the work's timeless appeal and themes.
- The Synopsis outlines the central plot, highlighting key developments without spoiling critical twists.
- A detailed Historical Context immerses you in the era's events and influences that shaped the writing.
- A thorough Analysis dissects symbols, motifs, and character arcs to unearth underlying meanings.
- Reflection questions prompt you to engage personally with the work's messages, connecting them to modern life.
- Hand‐picked Memorable Quotes shine a spotlight on moments of literary brilliance.
- Interactive footnotes clarify unusual references, historical allusions, and archaic phrases for an effortless, more informed read.
Audiobook details
GenreScience and Nature, Literary Classics
Length4 hrs 33 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateAug 24, 2023
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1Zetetic Astronomy: Earth Not a Globe (Annotated)
2Introduction
3Synopsis
4Historical Context
5SECTION 2. THE EARTH NO AXIAL OR ORBITAL MOTION.
Show all chaptersShow less
6SECTION 3. THE TRUE DISTANCE OF THE SUN AND STARS.
7SECTION 4. THE SUN MOVES IN A CIRCLE OVER THE EARTH, CONCENTRIC WITH THE NORTH POLE.
8SECTION 5. THE DIAMETER OF THE SUN’S PATH IS CONSTANTLY CHANGING—DIMINISHING FROM DECEMBER 21ST TO JUNE 15TH, AND ENLARGING FROM JUNE TO DECEMBER.
9SECTION 6. CAUSE OF DAY AND NIGHT, SEASONS, &c.
10SECTION 7. CAUSE OF “SUNRISE” AND “SUNSET.”
11SECTION 8. CAUSE OF SUN APPEARING LARGER WHEN RISING AND SETTING THAN WHEN ON THE MERIDIAN.
12SECTION 9. CAUSE OF SOLAR AND LUNAR ECLIPSES.
13SECTION 10. CAUSE OF TIDES.
14SECTION 11. CONSTITUTION, CONDITION, AND ULTIMATE DESTRUCTION OF THE EARTH BY FIRE.
15SECTION 12. MISCELLANEA.
16SECTION 13. PERSPECTIVE ON THE SEA.
17SECTION 14. GENERAL SUMMARY—APPLICATION—CUI BONO?
18Analysis
19Reflection
20Memorable Quotes
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