What proof / evidence do you have that the Earth is spherical?

Question

I assume it's round. If the Earth turns out to be shaped like a pear or egg or cigar like, it makes little difference to the way I live my life. Nonetheless, I have not heard a better answer of PROOF than, "Because my 3rd grade teacher told me so" or "because of pictures (presumably) taken from the moon".
Has anyone proven for themselves that the Earth is round?

"I have more proof that God exists than I have proof that the Earth is round."

Isuppose I am looking for personal experiences. Astronauts or navigators that plotted their own flight plans. Has anyone measured gravitational forces at different points of the globe? Has anyone analysed shadows on the moon during eclipses from north, south and equatorial areas? (good in theory, but personal evidence? Loch Ness and Big Foot have as much "proof")

My attitude: Don't just accept "facts" without thinking.
If I can make you think, this is a good question.
There are people in authority that would oppose asking questions like this. Next thing you know, people may start to ask, why should I believe what newspapers or governments say.
By questioning, it can only bring you closer to the truth ... and the truth will set you free

Answer 1

Now, I'm assuming photos of the Earth from space won't satisfy you as they could be faked, right?

So how about this - wait for a Lunar eclipse. You will see for yourself the curved shadow of the earth move across the moon.

It's proof before your very eyes!

Answer 2

We have indirect evidence from the fact that our time zones and navigation systems based on a spherical earth do in fact work.

If the Earth was pear shaped, there would a region of the Earth (the sticky-outie part of the pear) where sunrises and sunsets would not occur at the times they do, and the sun would be at werid angles compared with how they see them. The fact that this does not occur is evidence that the Earth is relatively uniformly curved.

I say relatively, because there are slight variations in the angle of the sun at certain points of the Earth that indicate that the Earth is not, in fact, a perfect sphere. Measurements of these have shown that the Earth bulges slightly at the Equator, and is slightly squished in at the poles. This fits with the theory that the Earth rotates, spinning the central regions faster, and creating the bulge.

By comparing incidence angles at different points all over the world, during different seasons, the only logical explanation that fits all of the known observations is that the Earth is indeed pretty close to being spherical. Pictures from orbit and the moon are merely one more piece of evidence, they are not the only proof.

UPDATE

Although I have never been to New York City, or Iraq, I have seen enough evidence from other sources to convince me that these regions do in fact exist.

I have not personally measured the angle of incidence at different spots on the globe to verify the spherical nature of that globe, but I have been above the Arctic Circle in the summertime and observed the phenomenon of midnight sunshine myself. I have also been near the Equator in the winter, and observed that the angle of the sun is considerably different than at the same time back home. I have also witnessed the astonishingly rapid sunset at the Equator - very different from the lengthy twilight we get in my northern home.

All of these observations and others all fit with a spherical Earth. I have never seen any evidence of anomalies that would suggest that the Earth is a different shape. If someone comes up with evidence that is incompatible with a spherical Earth, I'm willing to look into the possibility. In the meantime I'm willing to accept as fact that the Earth is a sphere.

Answer 3

Because people have sailed / flew across the globe. If you start walking in ANY direction, and travel in a straight line, you WILL return to your starting point.

Measure the shadow of something that is 10 feet high at a point in the far north, at a point on the equator, and at a point in the far south (at the first day of spring or fall at noon).
....
You will see that the shadows in the north point north, and the shadows in the south point south. The shadow at the equator points in neither direction.

Even the ancient Greeks knew the Earth was round, and they didn't have to sail around the world to prove it.

Answer 4

properly the Earth is an oblate spheroid, so its no longer completely around. If the Earth became a flat disc, then how would desire to you clarify having the flexibility to work out the curvature of the Earth whilst finding out over the sea? If it have been a flat disc, the only way it might desire to solid a around shadow is to be like a coin on its area and that would perhaps violate some rules of physics. the character of the image voltaic equipment itself and how it formed with a quickly spinning nebula very almost dictates quasi-around bodies being the result.

Answer 5

Go stand on an island and look at the horizon, it is curved in all directions.
Watch ships sail away from the island - they will disappear (think of a yacht with a high mast) at the same rate below the horizon regardless of which they direction they are going.

Pick an island anywhere on earth - you get the same result. This only works if the earth is spherical.

Answer 6

"My attitude: Don't just accept "facts" without thinking."

If this is your attitude, then you are going to spend a lot of your life trying to verify everything that others tell you. We are long past the days when one person could know all that there is to know. So, we have to rely on what others tell us. When it comes to something as basic as the shape of the Earth, few of us have the time to check out this established fact. If we were to spend our time confirming these established facts, we would have no time to study and discover new things. That would ultimately lead to a loss of knowledge rather than an increase because we would not be able to confirm every thing we have learned over the centuries.

Answer 7

This was known even to Archimedes: he noticed that when a ship was approaching, he could see the top of its sail first on the horizon, so the surface was not flat. Then, Ptolemeos calculated quite accurately the radius of the earth. Ever since, we have been able, as you said, to see it with our very eyes photographed from the space and scientists have made accurate measurements. If you don't agree with these great minds and your own eyes, then it is your problem.

Answer 8

I assume you mean that photographs from the moon or orbit aren't enough proof.
I have several times been in planes where I could see the curvature of the earth.
Also, I can't think of a better explanation for how the Sun, Moon and Stars change.

Answer 9

Earth is not a prefect sphere...

Its almost round shaped...

The Proofs are the fotos of Earth taken from Far Sapce...

Answer 10

Bugs Bunny threw a baseball as far as he could and it returned from the opposite direction with stamps from all over the world.