Claim register
Claim Evaluation
Every claim is stated exactly, traced to its origin, and evaluated against the best supporting and the best opposing case. Scientific claims must expose their full reasoning chain — observation, measurement, calculation, prediction, physical test, result, replication — and declare per-model predictions BEFORE the result is shown. Appeals to authority (“science says”, “experts agree”, “the math proves it”, “settled”) are not evidence. Confidence is authored, not tallied. Preserve disagreement rather than force a conclusion.
- Incomplete — primary sources not yet ingestedThe universal comparison scaffold below is a placeholder. Do not treat empty sections as evidence.
Atmospheric refraction bends the line of sight downward
UnresolvedUnder standard atmosphere, light propagating near-horizontally is bent by a coefficient k such that the effective Earth radius R' ≈ R / (1 − k), typically k ≈ 0.13.
Origin: Topic acknowledged; primary sources not yet ingested into this record.
Best supporting case
Awaiting primary-source ingest before an authored comparison.
Best opposing case
Awaiting primary-source ingest before an authored comparison.
Evidence
Universal comparison · who claims what, and how each model explains it
MathematicalWho makes the claim: Standard geodesy (Rueger, Torge); disputed magnitude and sign under inversion layers.Scope: See exact wording for scope and definitions; further scoping to follow with primary sources.
Flat / enclosed model
What it says: Refraction can explain any observation attributed to curvature — including hull-first disappearance — and thus curvature has no independent evidence.
Required assumptions: standard-atmosphere, light-in-vacuum
Strongest objection: Awaiting primary-source ingest.
Falsifier: A dataset where measured k is bounded but the observation still requires a curved Earth to explain.
Globe model
What it says: Refraction is real but its magnitude is measurable; when subtracted, residual curvature remains as observed.
Required assumptions: standard-atmosphere, light-in-vacuum
Strongest objection: Awaiting primary-source ingest.
Falsifier: A rigorous multi-site campaign in which every long-distance observation can be explained purely by measured k on a plane.
Circular-reasoning check
No circular-reasoning risks identified in the authored evidence chain.
Knowledge library · claim → equation → law → assumptions
Laws / principles
Theories / models
Assumptions
Hidden assumptions
— none recorded —
Missing evidence
- Primary sources for the flat-model explanation.
- Primary sources for the globe-model explanation.
- At least one reproducible physical test with independent replication.
Contradictions
— none recorded —
Reproducibility
- Not yet documented in this record.
Confidence · not_rated
This record is a structural placeholder. Confidence will only be rated once primary sources and reasoning chain are authored.
Confidence is authored, not tallied. It reflects primary vs. secondary evidence, source independence, methodology, conflicts, and reproducibility — not the count of sources.