Myths and Mysteries
of Science
Removing the mystery.
Accounts of certain incidents in the history of science continue to appear in books and Internet web sites, often sensationalized as "unsolved mysteries". Several are interesting enough to deserve further critical and sober scrutiny, especially when they may involve mistakes of science, or misunderstandings of science.
- The Flat Earth. The plane truth about the shape of the earth, from ancient Egypt to the 21st century.
- Is the earth a round, spinning ball? Where's the evidence?
- Turning the Universe Inside-Out. The Naples Geodetic Survey. Ulysses G. Morrow measures the earth's surface in 1897 and finds it is concave upwards—a hollow shell within which we live and walk on the inside surface. Our heads are toward the center, and the entire universe, mostly an illusion, is contained within the hollow shell of the earth.
- The Mystery of the Tamarack Mines Plumb Lines. In 1901, plumb lines dropped down a 4,200 foot deep mineshaft diverge at the bottom. Is the earth's surface concave after all?
- The Moon Illusion. Are we all "seeing things"?
- Fibonacci Flim-Flam Is the Fibonacci sequence the mystical secret behind nature's patterns and processes?
- The Wheel of Orffyreus. Did Johann Bessler discover the secret of perpetual motion in 1718?
- Scientific Urban Legends. Galileo and the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Flightless bumblebees. What use are newborn babies? Someday you'll tax it.
- Horse's Teeth and Angels Dancing on Pins and Needles. More scientific "urban legends".