Bedford level test

This is one of the most compelling test for the flat earh.Water always finds its own level and should not have any radius.So has anyone tried to recreate this experiment in recent years.Prefrably using a laser so the results can be clearly seen. Maybe even put on video.

This is one of the most compelling test for the flat earh.Water always finds its own level and should not have any radius.So has anyone tried to recreate this experiment in recent years.Prefrably using a laser so the results can be clearly seen. Maybe even put on video.

I tried to find recent tests similar to the Bedford level test and i didn't have much luck. I am going to keep looking. There are salt flats somewhere, I forget where, that are supposedly flat. I did find this article about Kansas being flatter than a pancake if this helps.

http://www.improbable.com/airchives/paperair/volume9/v9i3/kansas.html

This is one of the most compelling test for the flat earh.

Not really.  Different atmospheric conditions can sometimes cause a variety of refractive phenomena which could influence the results.

Quote from: C PIckering on December 22, 2015, 12:16:36 PM

This is one of the most compelling test for the flat earh.

Not really.  Different atmospheric conditions can sometimes cause a variety of refractive phenomena which could influence the results.

Explain in detail as relevant to this.

The Bedford level tests was done buy a well respected scientist in 1880 over a 6 mile stretch of canal that is straight. He sent a boat 6 miles away.The earth curves at 8 inch per mile,the earths curviture would have obscured the base of the boat by some 24 inches if my maths was correct. Now with his periscope held at some 8 inch above the water he was able to see the base of the boat in the water. Now I know that atmosphere can create depressions in the sea.The canal I would suggest was a controlled environment. Certainly would not account for some 24inch difference. I believe he won a bet on this as someone had rubbished his flat earth claims.

Samuel Bierley conducted the experiment and this was taught in schools at one point.he was a English scientist who could prove his claims. I understand the physics of that experiment and so could a child.How does gravit work then relate that to anything,it's just a theory.

Warmer air over cooler water results in a 'superior mirage', or 'refraction', which causes the light from a distant object to curve downward, sometimes 'bending' with Earth's curvature.  This results in low distant objects still being seen when they would actually be hidden behind the curvature.

The laser would also be susceptible to this same effect.

Quote from: markjo on December 22, 2015, 03:15:59 PM

Quote from: C PIckering on December 22, 2015, 12:16:36 PM

This is one of the most compelling test for the flat earh.

Not really.  Different atmospheric conditions can sometimes cause a variety of refractive phenomena which could influence the results.

Explain in detail as relevant to this.

Refraction occurs when light bends as it travels through media of different optical densities.  Factors like temperature, pressure and humidity can cause variations in the optical density of air.  These variations in the optical density of the air means that the light is not traveling in a perfectly straight line and therefore distant objects may not actually be where they appear to be.

The Bedford level tests was done buy a well respected scientist in 1880 over a 6 mile stretch of canal that is straight. He sent a boat 6 miles away.The earth curves at 8 inch per mile,the earths curviture would have obscured the base of the boat by some 24 inches if my maths was correct. Now with his periscope held at some 8 inch above the water he was able to see the base of the boat in the water. Now I know that atmosphere can create depressions in the sea.The canal I would suggest was a controlled environment. Certainly would not account for some 24inch difference. I believe he won a bet on this as someone had rubbished his flat earth claims.

Let me put you straight.
The original Bedford Level Experiment was done by Samuel Birley Rowbotham in the 19th century. He was not a well respected scientist - he was more of a snake oil salesman. If you read his book Earth Not A Globe, you will find his knowledge of physics was pretty poor and he makes all sorts of incorrect assumptions and draws irrational conclusions.
Nevertheless, the test of an experiment is its repeatability. This was done by Alfred Russel Wallace (yes, all Victorian scientists had to have three names) who found the result was the opposite of what Rowbotham claimed. This was the experiment over which there was a wager, with a guy called Hampden, although I'm unclear on the details apart from Hampden accusing Wallace of faking his results, being proved wrong, and prosecuted for libel as a result.
As Wallace was trained in survey techniques and his science was much more rigorous, combined with the fact that Rowbotham had an agenda to show flatness, it's generally accepted that Rowbotham's results were inferior to Wallace's. The experiment has been repeated since then, and Rowbotham's findings have never been replicated. The fictional admin of this forum, Daniel Shenton, said he performed the experiment but was unable to get adequate data.

This is one of the most compelling test for the flat earh.Water always finds its own level and should not have any radius.So has anyone tried to recreate this experiment in recent years.Prefrably using a laser so the results can be clearly seen. Maybe even put on video.

If you want to repeat it, hire a surveyor.  Strangely, no flattie ever does, or for that matter carry out any experiment whatsoever.

From what I'd read, Rowbotham did his testing very near the water's surface making refraction much more likely.  He then refused to repeat it at a higher height.

There's a whole write up on wikipedia:

Rowbotham repeated his experiments several times over the years but his claims received little attention until, in 1870, a supporter by the name of John Hampden offered a wager that he could show, by repeating Rowbotham's experiment, that the earth was flat. The noted naturalist and qualified surveyor Alfred Russel Wallace accepted the wager. Wallace, by virtue of his surveyor's training and knowledge of physics, avoided the errors of the preceding experiments and won the bet.[8][9] The crucial step was to set a sight line 13 feet (4 m) above the water, and thereby avoid the effects of atmospheric refraction.[10] Despite Hampden initially refusing to accept the demonstration, Wallace was awarded the bet by the referee, editor of The Field sports magazine.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bedford_Level_experiment

Let's face it though, why bother doing it when you can just take a photo of Chicago across Lake Michigan.



You don't need any sensitive equipment to spot that curvature.

There's a whole write up on wikipedia

OH IT ON WIKIPEDIA OH WOW IT MUST BE TRUE!!!1!1!11!!1
















lol.

Well it's not a complicated experiment,but from what I read  with the other experiments it seams to be proven conclusive everyone who conducted the experiment over the years could see the target or boat.its been done by Alfred Wallace a qualified surveyor who failed to repeat some of the previous minor mistakes but the results were still the same. Water is flat not curved and look at the photo above.

Water is flat not curved and look at the photo above.

Only the tops of the buildings are visible.  Left to right curvature of the horizon would not be noticeable in that picture.

Well it's not a complicated experiment,but from what I read  with the other experiments it seams to be proven conclusive everyone who conducted the experiment over the years could see the target or boat.its been done by Alfred Wallace a qualified surveyor who failed to repeat some of the previous minor mistakes but the results were still the same. Water is flat not curved and look at the photo above.

Please explain just why the water would be curved left to right.  A sphere would look exactly the same whichever way you looked, so the horizon will look exactly the same all 360° around - in other words flat!
There is a very slight dip angle from the viewpoint to the horizon, but from low altitudes that is not noticeable to the naked eye.  From 33' above the water level the dip angle is only 0.09° - completely negligible without accurate instrumentation!  From 1000' or so surveying instruments can easily measure the dip.
Maybe you could read up on celestial navigation, where for centuries navigators have been instructed to allow for the "dip angle" to the horizon in taking star or sun sights. In calculating a "fix" an error of 0.09° could lead to an location error of 5.4 nm.

There two things you should note in that photo:
1) A large part of Chicago is hidden behind the horizon.
2) The horizon is quite sharp.  If the earth were flat the limit of visibility would be set by "Rayleigh scattering" or "haze". In either case the horizon would be diffuse and not sharp.  This diffuse horizon is seen from aircraft flying at 30,000' or so.

You again have fallen into the common trap "I cannot understand the Globe, so the earth must be flat!".

Well it's not a complicated experiment,but from what I read  with the other experiments it seams to be proven conclusive everyone who conducted the experiment over the years could see the target or boat.its been done by Alfred Wallace a qualified surveyor who failed to repeat some of the previous minor mistakes but the results were still the same.#

Rubbish, Wallace showed curvature and won the bet.

Water is flat not curved and look at the photo above.

Where has all but the very tops of the skyscrapers gone then?  Seriously, where is Chicago?

Quote from: JimmyTheCrab on December 23, 2015, 09:08:30 AM

There's a whole write up on wikipedia

OH IT ON WIKIPEDIA OH WOW IT MUST BE TRUE!!!1!1!11!!1 lol.

OH PAPA LEGBA DOESN'T AGREE OH WOW IT MUST BE FALSE!!!1!1!11!!1 lol.

Quote from: C PIckering on December 23, 2015, 02:54:48 PM

Water is flat not curved and look at the photo above.

Only the tops of the buildings are visible.  Left to right curvature of the horizon would not be noticeable in that picture.

Left to right (x axis) curvature can never be observed as your horizon curves round you in 360 degrees. thus curves around you at the same rate as the earth falls away.

 Curvature along the z axis, yes as observed in the picture above.

Quote from: JimmyTheCrab on December 23, 2015, 09:08:30 AM

There's a whole write up on wikipedia

OH IT ON WIKIPEDIA OH WOW IT MUST BE TRUE!!!1!1!11!!1
















lol.

It might be quite off-topic, but from this post it would seem clear that Papa Legba is just a waste of space - at least he likes to waste space!

That blank space is his mind.