Universal Zetetic Society

The Universal Zetetic Society (UZS) was the precursor to the Flat Earth Society. It was founded in Britain shortly after the death of Samuel Rowbotham (aka Parallax) by Rowbotham's adherents. The UZS was active well into the early part of the 20th century, publishing several books and many issues of a journal titled The Earth Review, which was also known as The Earth Not a Globe Review. In 1971, the UZS was revived as The Flat Earth Society when Samuel Shenton became its leader.

Purpose and Mandates
The Universal Zetetic Society engaged on multiple fronts. It firstly acted to provide a scientific peer review for Robotham's Earth Not a Globe by collecting professional quotes and references in its publications. Secondly, it had a theological motivation to pursue the philosophy of last chapter of Earth Not a Globe to its next level, where Robotham described that Flat Earth research was possible evidence for the Abrahamic religions which described the same cosmology.

An advertisement for the Universal Zetetic Society's The Earth Not a Globe Review states:



The lines "in confirmation of the Holy Scriptures, based on practical investigation" and "Prove all things; hold fast on that which is true" indicates that Lady Blount and her society took Rowbotham's philosophy at the end of his book and continued it. The UZS uses direct physical science research as evidence for scripture, as opposed to relying on faith or feeling to support religious belief, the later being tactics criticized by Rowbotham. The Universal Zetetic Society is the development of a religious organization in an era of rapid social and scientific progression, which sought to adapt to this new paradigm by using physical scientific evidence to support religion.

Victorian Era
The Victorian era was 63-year period from 1837-1901 that marked the reign of England's Queen Victoria. The era was popularly characterized by a growing state and economy, class-based society, and Britain’s status as the most powerful empire in the world. During this period Britain was a powerful sea faring nation with a rich culture. It had a large empire, a stable government, a growing state, and an expanding commercial franchise. It was wealthy due to its degree of industrialization and its imperial holdings, in spite of the fact that three-fourths or more of its population was working-class.

The period was marked by rapid technological progress and social upheaval. The Industrial Revolution, rise of the modern pharmaceutical industry, improvements in travel, invention of Morse code and the telegraph, Alexander Graham Bell's invention of the telephone, first mechanical computer, woman's suffrage movement, Britain's abolishment of slavery, and the publishing and popularization of the Origin of the Species all contributed to profound changes to the previous way of life.

Science vs. Religion
At the time of Rowbotham's writings and Lady Blount's Universal Zetetic Society the topic of Science vs. Religion was a very popular and engrossing subject for the Victorian era. A Gresham College lecture states in regards to this era:



The 1800's was marked by the theme of Science vs. Religion, even more-so than the 1700's. During this time there was the Darwin-evolution controversy, the Shroud of Taurin was photographed, the elimination of religion in schools, and debates on the separation of church and state.

The Victorian Web by Aileen Fyfe of the National University of Ireland states:





The Universal Zetetic Society was a direct product of these debates, born out of the era's controversy, and represented an effort to preserve religion by showing that science actually supported, rather than contradicted, its teachings. In a similar vein to the Creation vs. Evolution debates at the time, the Universal Zetetic Society acted as a medium where science and religion met at a crossroads for the subjects of Earth Science and Astronomy.