Chapter 1 of "Does the Earth Rotate"

Reading the first chapter I immediately became confused.

t is generally accepted that the famous Pole Star, by the aid of which mariners navigate their vessels, is a fixture.

The angle at which the Pole Star stands to London is 51 ½ degrees, to Frome, Somerset, which is in the vicinity where most of my calculations and observations have been taken, at an angle of 51 ¼ degrees, at Newcastle 55 degrees, New Zealand 40 degrees, Edinburgh 56 degrees, and Spitzbergen 77 degrees.

The distance from London to the North Pole, we are informed, is approximately 3000 miles.

To arrive at the altitude of the Pole Star therefore, is an easy matter, by a simple mathematical calculation. Working to a scale of half inch to every thousand miles, we shall discover that the distance from London to the Pole Star is approximately 4,500 miles.

The most effective test of the accuracy of my figures will be found by using a tripod test, the angle to London being 51 ½ degrees, to Asia 52 degrees, and Columbia, Canada 53 degrees.

Note the places mentioned are all in the Northern Hemisphere, as it is termed by the astronomers.

By working to the aforementioned scale my previous figures are proved to be correct.

Astronomers' given distance to the Pole Star from London is 3,680,000,000,000,000 miles.

Readers, please test these fantastic figures.

How does he figure that Polaris is 4,500 miles away?  What simple math does he use?  Trig?

After reading through on more examples I think I realized why he felt this way.  Please correct me if I'm misinterpreting his writings.

It seems that he is assuming Polaris is very small compared to the Earth and not extremely large and far away compared to the Earth.

He's taking the Earth to be flat, so all angles must come from a flat plane.


The same thing can happen when you take a round Earth, all angles will be the same too, but it will put Polaris much further away.


I'll try to find the image explaining the same thing with the 45degree Sun thing that makes it 3000 miles above the surface.

He's taking the Earth to be flat, so all angles must come from a flat plane.


The same thing can happen when you take a round Earth, all angles will be the same too, but it will put Polaris much further away.


I'll try to find the image explaining the same thing with the 45degree Sun thing that makes it 3000 miles above the surface.

Thanks.
Math was never my strong point but even so, there's a nagging little voice in my head that says something about perspective and how an object really big would look really small if you were standing far away and an object really small would look really big if you were standing very close and that the two are interchangeable with regards to unaided observation and can only be separated with the assistance of lenses or something to determine distance.

He's also saying Polaris is visible at an angle of 40^o from New Zealand, so we know he's just making up nonsense.

He's also saying Polaris is visible at an angle of 40^o from New Zealand, so we know he's just making up nonsense.

Oh, how did I miss that one.