This week: further Hollow Earth. Next week: Odylic fluid v. Orgone energy!

As was pointed out in the comments by Mr. Hardy, of Laputan Logic fame, the theory that the force of gravity experienced by we terrestrial mites is in fact the centrifugal force of a spinning earth fails to explain why gravity at the poles (or whatever axis one chooses) is not appreciably weaker than elsewhere. I confess that I find this objection to the Hollow Earth theory insurmountable, so long as gravitational pull is so explained.

However, and most unfortunately for everyone who wants to talk about something else, there's another option. Without abandoning the Hollow Earth theory, we can simply adjust every vector in the universe to fit our plan. We can perform an inversion.

The basic geometry follows this plan. Let there be created a circle with center A (Euclid, Book I, Postulate 3, and I'm not citing anymore) Let point B be taken on the circle. Let point C be taken anywhere on line AB. Let line AB be extended to point D, such that AC:AB :: AB:AD. Thus, the rectangle AC, AD is equal to the square on AB.

It is evident that, given point C, point D can always be found, and vice versa. The practical application is that, for any point inside the circle, a corresponding point outside the circle can be found. Moreover, we find that as we approach the center of the circle, the behavior is as if, in our alternate hypothesis, we were moving outwards to any given length. Thus, any attempt to disprove the Hollow Earth theory would by flying to the other side of the Earth would fail. The appearance would be that of nearly limitless space, but the reality (from our Hollow Earth perspective) is that space is smaller near the center of the Hollow Earth.

The further one moves away from the outer edge (the Utter East, so to speak) which seems to us to be the surface of the Earth, the more effort it takes to move the same distance. At the center, assuming that the universe is unbounded, time and space cease entirely. The degree of curvature of the universe might be found by determining the extent to which one slowed at the center of the sphere, and how long it took one to reach the opposite edge of the earth. This is, unfortunately, exactly as impractical as, say, throwing a baseball out into space and waiting for it to hit oneself in the back of the head to find out how large the universe is.

Drilling through is no help. One does not "break through" the Earth's crust. Rather, as point D moves to infinited, the drill would "flip" and begin boring through the other side of the Earth. In this model of the Hollow Earth, rather than a shell of rock with space beyond it, we have the universe within a solid mass of rock which goes to infinity (which, of course, corresponds in the Solid Earth model to the Earth's center).

We can invert every law of nature the same way if we choose. There is, I think, no hope that we can finally lay the Hollow Earth theory to rest without invoking first principles.

I must acknowledge the great debt I owe to Martin Gardner and his book, On the Wild Side, for much of this post.