Samuel Birley Rowbotham (1816–1884) wrote Zetetic Astronomy: Earth Not a Globe under the pseudonym Parallax. His work was originally published as a 16-page pamphlet (1849), and later expanded into a book (1865).

The term “zetetic” is derived from the Greek verb zeteo; which means to search or examine — to proceed only by inquiry. None can doubt that by making special experiments and collecting manifest and undeniable facts, arranging them in logical order, and observing what is naturally and fairly deducible, the result will be far more consistent and satisfactory than by framing a theory or system and assuming the existence of causes for which there is no direct evidence, and which can only be admitted “for the sake of argument".

In this seminal work, "Parallax" lays out his case against the prevailing theories of the rotundity of the Earth, drawing on his readings in the fields of Perspective, Astronomy, Classical Mechanics and Christian Scripture.