Talk:Bedford Level experiment

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I suggest to add the following section into this article along with the image and chart from the links.

Earth's curvature and how to calculate it

IF the earth is a globe, and is 25,000 English statute miles in circumference, the surface of all standing water must have a certain degree of convexity--every part must be an arc of a circle. From the summit of any such arc there will exist a curvature or declination of 8 inches in the first statute mile. In the second mile the fall will be 32 inches; in the third mile, 72 inches, or 6 feet, as shown in the following diagram:

http://www.sacred-texts.com/earth/za/img/fig01.jpg

Let the distance from T to figure 1 represent 1 mile, and the fall from 1 to A, 8 inches; then the fall from 2 to B will be 32 inches, and from 3 to C, 72 inches. In every mile after the first, the curvature downwards from the point T increases as the square of the distance multiplied by 8 inches. The rule, however, requires to be modified after the first thousand miles. 1 The following table will show at a glance the amount of curvature, in round numbers, in different distances up to 100 miles.

http://www.sacred-texts.com/earth/za/za05.htm#fr_0

--Steveengelhardt (talk) 09:09, 20 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Contradiction

A possible explanation is given in the "Mirage" paragraph, yet the "Evidence" paragraph now reads "No explanation has been given of the results of these experiments". --Old Moonraker (talk) 12:48, 10 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Resolved by replacing with a WP:SS link to the main article. --Old Moonraker (talk) 11:13, 13 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Problem in First Paragraph

This statement implies Samuel Rowbotham, the performer of the Bedford Level Experiment, had a bias against the idea of the Earth being round: "It was an attempt to demonstrate that the Earth was flat." It is clear by Samuel Rowbotham's writings in Zetetic Astronomy: Earth Not a Globe (Available here: http://www.sacred-texts.com/earth/za/za00.htm) that the philosophy of Zeteticism, which he promotes within, Rowbotham's written examination of data from experimentation within this book, and the detailed explanations of experiments within the book indicates an openness to whatever conclusion may logically result from data from experimentation. There is no clear indication that he had a bias against the idea of the Earth being round, and if such a bias existed, there is no written record or obvious proof of it. I'll assume everyone understands that however he truly and privately felt within is unknowable and irrelevant to the article. I apologize if this _seems_ pedantic, but I assure you that this is a detail which should not be overlooked. I have edited the sentence and part of the following one to say the following: "It was an attempt to determine the shape of the Earth. Early results seemed to prove the Earth to be flat," The first half of the second sentence originally said: "Early results seemed to prove this contention," 71.8.56.51 (talk) 04:37, 24 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]

This would be a valid point, supported by WP:NEUTRAL, but I can't see what's wrong with your fix: "attempt to determine the shape of the Earth". It doesn't seem to carry any preconception. Citations in lead paragraphs are generally avoided, unless the statement is controversial: as a summary of what follows the content relies on adequate citing of the rest of the article. I propose to remove the {{cn}} tag, subject to other editors' views (or, of course, a patient explanation why I am missing the point here). --Old Moonraker (talk) 08:20, 24 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]

One tag removed, one given a ref and removed.--Old Moonraker (talk) 07:42, 25 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Dodgy caption

The caption Photo of the site published by "Parallax" (1870) is under a diagram, not a photo!
--Robert EA Harvey (talk) 06:53, 26 June 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Hampden threatening to kill Wallace?

The article currently states that "Several protracted court cases ensued, with the result that Hampden was imprisoned for libel and threatening to kill Wallace" and provides two supposed references to that claim. Having investigated both references (the pamphlet and the article which I reuploaded from The Times' archive), I have found no evidence of death threats being made. I briefly tried searching for other references, but that turned out to be fruitless. With that in mind, I'm removing the mention of Hampden threatening to kill Wallace from the article. Please feel free to restore it if you can provide a reference. Apples grow on pines (talk) 01:09, 31 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

You may be right that the Times doesn't include the threat, but it was made all right. In his autobiography Wallace recalls the following on p368:

he sent the following letter to my wife:

Mrs. Wallace,

"Madam-If your infernal thief of a husband is brought home some day on a hurdle, with every bone in his head smashed to pulp, you will know the reason. Do you tell him from me he is a lying infernal thief, and as sure as his name is Wallace he never dies in his bed.

"You must be a miserable wretch to be obliged to live with a convicted felon. Do not think or let him think I have done with him.

"John Hampden."

Seems clear to me. Chris55 (talk) 13:45, 31 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]