Interview with Synchronicity Magazine featuring Christine Garwood

http://www.synchronicitygroup.net/2013/03/planet-issue-long-after-pythagoras-the-world-of-the-flat-earth-society/


In addition, I recently did an interview with mark Silberstein for Synchronicity Magazine, for an article which also featured Christine Garwood, author of Flat Earth: The History of an Infamous Idea.

No matter how outlandish these views are, Wilmore presents them in a tolerant, calm, intelligent and respectful way. Unlike Hampden, who was a Christian, Wilmore is an atheist and not trying to convert those who believe in a globe. This tolerance seems at odds with the official line laid out by the writers of Flat Earth Wiki (FEW), who state that it is the “duty of each Flat Earth Society member, to meet thecommon round earther in the open, avowed, and unyielding rebellion; to declare that his reign of error and confusion is over; and that henceforth, like a falling dynasty, he must shrink and disappear.”

I read this while taking a drink, resulting in me almost wrecking my computer in the fit of hysterical laughter that followed.  Whose brilliant idea was it to include this piece of copypasta on the main page of the wiki?  Whoever you are, nice.  Real nice.

"“duty of each Flat Earth Society member, to meet thecommon round earther in the open, avowed, and unyielding rebellion; to declare that his reign of error and confusion is over; and that henceforth, like a falling dynasty, he must shrink and disappear.”"

This is awful.  Also congratulations on the recent interviews!

I hate that Garwood woman. Her commentary on the flat earth society is dreadful. I don't know how she can write about her subjects with so little empathy? She makes no effort to celebrate any of Rowbotham's achievements for example, choosing instead to focus on his young wife and large numbers of children, the one time he left a debate early, his association with Hampden and generally any angle of ridicule she can muster. She doesn't mention anything about him being a self-made multi-millionaire, that he was one of the founders of the modern soft drinks industry or that he held patents on dozens of inventions. His degree in neurology and time spent researching phosphorus effects on the human brain at the university of Edinburgh are also carefully omitted.
Its actually a pretty dreadful and one-sided book, and as such its a chore to read. Lets hope she doesn't do a sequel.

Quote

No matter how outlandish these views are, Wilmore presents them in a tolerant, calm, intelligent and respectful way. Unlike Hampden, who was a Christian, Wilmore is an atheist and not trying to convert those who believe in a globe. This tolerance seems at odds with the official line laid out by the writers of Flat Earth Wiki (FEW), who state that it is the “duty of each Flat Earth Society member, to meet thecommon round earther in the open, avowed, and unyielding rebellion; to declare that his reign of error and confusion is over; and that henceforth, like a falling dynasty, he must shrink and disappear.”

I read this while taking a drink, resulting in me almost wrecking my computer in the fit of hysterical laughter that followed.  Whose brilliant idea was it to include this piece of copypasta on the main page of the wiki?  Whoever you are, nice.  Real nice.

It occurred to me that I could actually check who it was that did this rather than just ask the question rhetorically.  It turns out that it was Daniel himself.  Huh.  Who would have guessed?

It's a quote from ENaG, gentlemen.

Indeed it is, but it's not cited as such on the wiki.  It might be a good idea to edit the wiki to reflect this.

Christine Garwood is in error asserting that her book is the only history of the modern flat earth movement. By her own admission in the book, her knowledge is largely founded upon the research of Robert Schadewald whose photographs appear in her book alongside his friend Charles Johnson. Schadewald had been writing a far more sympathetic history since the late 1970’s as his Smithsonian article of that time had mentioned. It was unpublished during his lifetime, but his book existed before Garwood’s began.

Furthermore, Schadewald’s book does not contain the many gross errors in Garwood’s book such as the claim that flat earth belief was rare after Pythagoras and in the early Church. This falsification of history is contradicted by most histories of science until the late twentieth century and writers like Jeffrey Burton Russell whom Garwood follows.

Fortunately, Schadewald’s wife and sister got together with some knowledgeable old friends of his and published his history of the modern flat earth movement in 2015. It is a vast improvement and an edifying read to which Garwood’s largely erroneous book might form a supplement:

http://www.cantab.net/users/michael.behrend/ebooks/PlaneTruth/pages/index.html

Christine Garwood is in error asserting that her book is the only history of the modern flat earth movement. By her own admission in the book, her knowledge is largely founded upon the research of Robert Schadewald whose photographs appear in her book alongside his friend Charles Johnson. Schadewald had been writing a far more sympathetic history since the late 1970’s as his Smithsonian article of that time had mentioned. It was unpublished during his lifetime, but his book existed before Garwood’s began.

Furthermore, Schadewald’s book does not contain the many gross errors in Garwood’s book such as the claim that flat earth belief was rare after Pythagoras and in the early Church. This falsification of history is contradicted by most histories of science until the late twentieth century and writers like Jeffrey Burton Russell whom Garwood follows.

Fortunately, Schadewald’s wife and sister got together with some knowledgeable old friends of his and published his history of the modern flat earth movement in 2015. It is a vast improvement and an edifying read to which Garwood’s largely erroneous book might form a supplement:

http://www.cantab.net/users/michael.behrend/ebooks/PlaneTruth/pages/index.html

Schadewald is boss, its true. I'm glad Garwood wrote what she did though.