A Reparation: Universal Gravitation a Universal Fake is a book written by Charles Sylvester DeFord (1860–1954). First published around the mid-20th century (often cited with a 1950 date, or later reissued in 1992 by Ye Galleon Press), the work is a piece of "zetetic astronomy" literature, which argues in favor of a flat Earth theory. DeFord argues that the concept of universal gravitation is a "fake" and a "pure assumption". The book promotes the idea that the Earth is a "stationary plane," and that the sun, moon, and stars are small bodies located near the Earth. The work is heavily critical of mainstream science, particularly Newton's law of gravitation and the astronomers who supported it.