Flat World: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
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If you walk far enough, you'll fall off the edge of the world. For this world is not round, but flat. What lies beyond the edge? No one knows.
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In ancient history, many cultures believed the Earth was flat. Certainly the curvature is so slight that it wasn't until the Greeks that the spherical Earth theory took hold (contrary to popular belief, [[Dead Unicorn Trope Christopher|Columbus didn't have to try and convince people that the earth was round]]).
Flat worlds typically only appear in fantasy. They will usually be a circular disc, although other shapes have appeared. The edges will either be [[The Wall Around the World|surrounded by walls]] (often [[Invisible Wall
Sadly, [http://theflatearthsociety.org/ some people] believe that this is [[Truth in Television]]. Less literally, the trope was considered to be truth in television in practice, up until World War 2, and Pearl Harbor was often treated as the edge of the world by both the Japanese and the Americans.
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** In ''Flatterland'' a world is discovered that is a circular disk of finite size and infinite area. In the middle things are "normal" size and as you move toward the edge everything gets smaller, preventing anyone from ever reaching the edge.
** Dewdney's novel ''The Planiverse'' goes further, positing an entire 2-dimensional universe with its own physics, chemistry, and biology. Circular planets orbit circular suns, and life exists on the "surfaces" (i.e. circumferences) of those circular planets. Some of these life forms even build 2-dimensional houses for themselves.
* ''Pyramid Scheme'', despite its title, features the flat world of Greek
* The novella ''Missile Gap'' by [[Charles Stross]] takes place on an Alderson disc big enough that {{spoiler|multiple copies of Earth}} have been flattened and placed on it.
* The world of ''[[The Neverending Story (novel)|The Neverending Story]]'' is apparently flat, and goes on forever in all directions.
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