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.
Water always seeks its level
UnresolvedA free liquid at rest under a uniform downward field has a surface of constant gravitational potential; on Earth this is an equipotential surface (the geoid).
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
FactualWho makes the claim: Fluid statics (Pascal, Bernoulli); geodesists.Scope: See exact wording for scope and definitions; further scoping to follow with primary sources.
Flat / enclosed model
What it says: The phrase is used to argue oceans could not curve; therefore Earth cannot be a globe.
Required assumptions: downward-field-g
Strongest objection: Awaiting primary-source ingest.
Falsifier: A demonstration that an equipotential surface on a sphere is not curved.
Globe model
What it says: On a sphere the equipotential surface is itself curved; water on it follows the geoid, not a flat plane.
Required assumptions: downward-field-g
Strongest objection: Awaiting primary-source ingest.
Falsifier: A large water body whose free surface departs from the geoid under still conditions.
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.