Geek present (spoiler?)

[Ya Sam]

"For the weird science geek try "Hollow Earth" by David Standish (Da Capo 
Press; 304 pages; $24.95), which celebrates a scientific theory that later 
became a recurring theme in fiction, and which you probably never studied in 
school.

The book begins with Sir Edmond Halley (of the comet fame) during the 
Enlightenment as an early proponent of a theory that below the Earth's 
surface was a hollow space in which another sphere may also sustain life.

With black and white illustrations of 17th-century maps and 20th-century 
movie posters, the book traces the hollow Earth idea through Edgar Allen 
Poe, Jules Verne and Edward Rice Burroughs, among others, and shows the 
power of an "idea that was wrong and changed nothing -- but which has 
nevertheless had an ongoing appeal." (And as a further geek bonus, the 
hollow Earth idea and Halley are even mentioned in Thomas Pynchon's latest 
novel, "Against the Day.")"

http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=537993&category=ARTS&newsdate=11/26/2006

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