| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| shy |
Posted - 02 July 2006 : 5:30:00 PM
After studying the universe, John Symmes concluded that the earth must be hollow with room inside for five other planets. He was also quite positive that there were gaping holes at both the North and South poles and that it was possible to sail into them. Once inside he confidently expected to discover another race of human beings.
So convincing was Symmes that in January 1823 United States Congressmen were prepared to listen politely to a request to finance his proposed expedition to the centre of the earth. Needless to say, the whole project, after much discussion, was passed over as ‘unsound’.
However that was not the end of Symmes’s brave ideas, for writer Jules Verne pounced on his theory with delight and used it as a basis for his Journey to the Centre of the Earth. So Symmes made his historic exploration after all, even though it was only between the covers of a book!
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