John Cleves Symmes, Jr. (nonfiction): Difference between revisions

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Symmes is best known for his 1818 variant of the (now-discredited) Hollow Earth Theory, which introduced the concept of openings to the inner world at the poles.
Symmes is best known for his 1818 variant of the (now-discredited) Hollow Earth Theory, which introduced the concept of openings to the inner world at the poles.


== Americus Symmes ==
One April 10, 1818, Symmes announced his Hollow Earth theory to the world, publishing his Circular No. 1.


Symmes' eldest son, Americus Symmes, was seventeen when his father died, leaving him as the sole support of the family, with an estate significantly in debt.
Symmes had sent his declaration (at considerable cost to himself) to "each notable foreign government, reigning prince, legislature, city, college, and philosophical societies, throughout the union, and to individual members of our National Legislature, as far as the five hundred copies would go."


Americus provided for his mother and siblings and paid off his father's debts.
Symmes' son Americus wrote of the reaction to Circular No. 1 in 1878, recounting:


He also championed his father's legacy, erecting a memorial to him (a pylon topped with a globe carved in the shape of a hollow sphere) and publishing in 1878 an edited collection of his father's papers.
<blockquote> [I]ts reception by the public can easily be imagined; it was overwhelmed with ridicule as the production of a distempered imagination, or the result of partial insanity. It was for many years a fruitful source of jest with the newspapers.</blockquote>
 
Symmes, though, was not deterred. He began a campaign of circulars, newspaper letters, and lectures aimed at defending and promoting his hypothesis of a Hollow Earth—and to build support for a polar expedition to vindicate his theory.
 
== In the News ==
 
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== Fiction cross-reference ==
== Fiction cross-reference ==
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* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Cleves_Symmes,_Jr. John Cleves Symmes, Jr.] @ Wikipedia
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Cleves_Symmes,_Jr. John Cleves Symmes, Jr.] @ Wikipedia
=== Social media ===


[[Category:Nonfiction (nonfiction)]]
[[Category:Nonfiction (nonfiction)]]
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[[Category:People (nonfiction)]]
[[Category:People (nonfiction)]]
[[Category:John Cleves Symmes, Jr. (nonfiction)]]

Latest revision as of 09:13, 28 May 2024

"John Cleves Symmes, Jr and His Hollow Earth" by John J. Audubon, 1820.

John Cleves Symmes, Jr. (November 5, 1780 – May 28, 1829) was an American Army officer, trader, and lecturer.

Symmes is best known for his 1818 variant of the (now-discredited) Hollow Earth Theory, which introduced the concept of openings to the inner world at the poles.

One April 10, 1818, Symmes announced his Hollow Earth theory to the world, publishing his Circular No. 1.

Symmes had sent his declaration (at considerable cost to himself) to "each notable foreign government, reigning prince, legislature, city, college, and philosophical societies, throughout the union, and to individual members of our National Legislature, as far as the five hundred copies would go."

Symmes' son Americus wrote of the reaction to Circular No. 1 in 1878, recounting:

[I]ts reception by the public can easily be imagined; it was overwhelmed with ridicule as the production of a distempered imagination, or the result of partial insanity. It was for many years a fruitful source of jest with the newspapers.

Symmes, though, was not deterred. He began a campaign of circulars, newspaper letters, and lectures aimed at defending and promoting his hypothesis of a Hollow Earth—and to build support for a polar expedition to vindicate his theory.

In the News

Fiction cross-reference

Nonfiction cross-reference

External links

Social media