flat horizons

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From: Ian Gorlick <igorlick_at_nortelnetworks.com>
Date: Fri, 13 Aug 1999 15:46:15 -0500

I know that the flat planet theory is official, but I have never liked it. It has very serious implications for communications and navigation. The "haze limited resolution" idea helps, but you don't have to be able to resolve a signal lamp or a lighthouse to be able to use the information they are sending. At sea at night, one can see a burning cigarette end over five miles away, you can send signals 40 miles (beyond the visible horizon) by bouncing them off clouds. Try imagining how far a powerful light could send a signal on a flat planet.

If the Lunars were to set a big red beacon on top of Tada's Tumulus, then nobody could ever get lost in Prax again. Where's the fun in that?

Some people may like this, I don't. So my Glorantha does have a horizon. I'm not sure yet if it is caused by curving light or a curved surface, I think this is a major debate among Gloranthan geographers. (There was a lot of fun discussion about curving light and its implications some years back.) (Even if Glorantha isn't a sphere, there is no reason why the surface can't be curved. There might be some esthetic objections, but everyone is allowed to make their Glorantha fit their esthetics.)