That same decade a new theory about the
hollow-earth appeared. It was the brainchild of Cyrus Read
Teed. Teed proposed that the Earth was a hollow sphere
and that people lived on the inside of it. In the
center of the sphere was the sun, which was half dark
and half light. As the sun turned it gave the
appearance of a sunset and sunrise. The dense atmosphere in
the center of the sphere prevented observers from
looking up into the sky and seeing the other side of the
world. Interestingly enough, Teed's theory was hard for
19th century mathematicians to disprove based on
geometry alone, since the exterior of a sphere can be
mapped onto the interior with little trouble.
<br><br>Teed changed his name to Koresh and founded a cult.
After buying a 300 acre tract in Florida, Koresh
declared himself the messiah of a new religion. He died in
1908 without proving his ideas. <br><br>Perhaps one of
the most well-known books about hollow-earth is Jules
Verne's Journey to the Center of the Earth. The book
illustrates a third theory of hollow-earth which is more
plausible than the other two. This is that passages from
the surface lead to caverns underground in which life
thrives. In the book three scientists climb down an
inactive Iceland volcano in an attempt to find a path to
the center of the Earth. They don't make it, but they
do find an underground sea populated with
prehistoric creatures including plesiosaurs. <br><br>Given
Falkenstein's approach to fictional things often being true (an
approach I am planning on having a lot of fun with), I'm
debating whether to use Verne's theory, or adapt the book
(if I use the book) into something similar to one of
the ones above.<br><br>Jeremiah