Symmes's theory of concentric spheres

the long version

Author James McBride presents John Cleve Symmes theory that the earth is constructed of a series of hollow shells and that it has large openings near the poles. The work was presented as science in a series of lectures in the 1820s and was met with humor, sarcasm, outright denouncement, and a few true believers. The work has value today primarily as a cautionary tale of how science based on too few facts and too much speculation, without peer review, can go far wrong. The work has been borrowed from to create plot lines for numerous science-fiction books and films featuring humans or strange species living inside the earth.