Alexander Gleason

Alexander Gleason (November 28, 1827 - March 13, 1909) was an American machinist and civil engineer, a proponent in his later years of Flat Earth theory, and in particular noted for his New Standard Map of the World (1892).

Selected Patents




Gleason's New Standard Map of the World
Or, more fully: ''Gleason's New Standard Map of the World: on the Projection of J. S. Christopher, Modern College, Blackheath, England; Scientifically and Practically Correct; As 'It Is'. (Longitude and Time Calculator; Patent Allowed, November 15, 1892. Applications made in: England, Canada, France, Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Austria. Published by the Buffalo Electrotype and Engraving Co., Buffalo, N.Y., U.S.A.)'', https://hatch.kookscience.com/wiki/File:Gleason%27s_New_Standard_Map_of_the_World_(1892).jpg

Press Coverage

 * "Is it any wonder that Alexander Gleason, of No. 1201 Niagara street, is making an effort to prove that the earth is flat? Nowadays nothing seems impossible to a Buffalonian. When Mr. Gleason has successfully demonstrated his theory in regard to our planet, he will doubtless take possession of the earth in the name of his native city. There was a time when Chicago waved the palm for greatest exhibition of municipal claims. The tide of empire, however, has begun to set eastward. Buffalo, the world is yours."
 * "Again there has arisen in our midst with bold attack upon the present system of astronomy and geodesy, a work of surpassing magnitude, by one Alexander Gleason of our own city, published by the Buffalo Electrotype and Engraving Co., and for sale by either of the above named. The work referred to bears the title of, 'Is the Bible from Heaven?' 'Is the earth a Globe?' While it is manifest from a moment's glance that to the first interrogation there is no doubt in the mind of the writer as to the inspiration of the word; in regard to the second, if the diagrams and statistical measurements are correct; there remains some hard shelled nuts for our scientists to crack. At least profit might be gained to the most fastidious and sanguine by a careful perusal of the book."
 * "Alexander Gleason, the sage of Niagara street, Buffalo, gave long and hard study to this great problem of the earth's surface, and spent much money in publishing books and collecting information. At one time he advertised in a New York paper for sea captains who had made the trip from the West African coast around Cape Horn, his desire being to prove that the distance was much greater than it would be if the earth were a sphere. The information which he obtained seemed to be satisfactory to himself, though it not convince many scientists and geographers. The principal arguments advanced by the flat earth theorists are that a ship might seem to sail around a ball when it merely sailed around a circle; that all the effects of day and night could be produced by a fixed sun shining down upon a circular earth revolving like a card on a pin, and that the longest rivers have a descent of only a few feet. They say that the phenomenon at sea of the ship 'rising' or disappearing is to be explained by refraction, and that if the earth were spherical the compass would not point north or south. These theorists assert that Sir Isaac Newton was crazy, and Galileo and Columbus mistaken; that if the earth were a revolving globe, a projectile thrown vertically upward would not fall on the spot from which it was hurled. And all of these propositions are backed up by copious quotations from the Bible, such as the four angles, at the four corners of the earth, the four winds of heaven, the angels that ascended and descended, etc. The underside of the earth having no sun is, say these dreamers, the place of darkness and damnation, and that it is reached only through the bottomless pit."