Comments on Fun and Story for Everyday: History Corrected by 400-year-old Moon Map

Ian, the first person to study uranus was the same...

2009-02-02T05:41:00.000+01:00

Ian, the first person to study uranus was the same person who invented the mirror.

The issue is not just that Galileo saw the moon th...

2009-02-02T02:27:00.000+01:00

The issue is not just that Galileo saw the moon through a telescope. It is the inference he drew, namely that the moon had mountains and valleys. It was not a perfect sphere. It was this fact that made his observation significant. Up until then, the prevailing view was that the heavenly bodies were all perfect orbs, unlike the earth, which was special. What was controversial about Galileo's writing about the moon were his claims that the moon had a geography that could be compared to the Earth. So the interesting question to me is not whether or not Harriot saw the moon through a telescope, but what conclusions he made based on his observations.

I can't believe humans saw the moon 400 years ago....

2009-02-01T21:05:00.000+01:00

I can't believe humans saw the moon 400 years ago. Inconceivable. That's like, before cell phones right? Wow!

"Galileo Galilei is often credited with being the ...

2009-02-01T15:53:00.000+01:00

"Galileo Galilei is often credited with being the first person to look through a telescope and make drawings of the celestial objects he observed."
credited by whom? only by people who know remarkably little about the history of science. the headline "History corrected by ...." is simply pathetic journalism with little relation either to the story beneath or to historical fact.

Anonymous, tell me, who was the first to study ura...

2009-02-01T15:45:00.000+01:00

Anonymous, tell me, who was the first to study uranus?

Sorry.

To be fair, it's entirely possible, even probable,...

2009-02-01T15:44:00.000+01:00

To be fair, it's entirely possible, even probable, that neither of them was the 'first' to observe or sketch the moon through a telescope. It just happens that both Harriot and Galileo were in respected positions that meant their documents were kept and recorded for centuries, and both names passed into history.
It's like the classic historian error - if you see a ring of stones, it doesn't mean the inhabitants built everything out of stone, it's just that their wooden buildings weren't preserved.

Galileo built his own telescope. One day, he showe...

2009-02-01T11:45:00.000+01:00

Galileo built his own telescope. One day, he showed it to his old mother, letting her take a peek at Venus. She said: "it's upside down!"

Publish or perish is meaningless. Its a social cir...

2009-02-01T07:22:00.000+01:00

Publish or perish is meaningless. Its a social circle. Galileo was better connected and in the right place/time to publish. Simple fact is, Harriot observed and drew the first image of the moon. He dated and signed it. Its been confirmed by a historian, thats good enough for me.

As a 5-year-old Monkey, I take great umbrage and e...

2009-02-01T07:18:00.000+01:00

As a 5-year-old Monkey, I take great umbrage and exception to some of the comments found here.

Harriott is well known to historians of mathematic...

2009-02-01T07:13:00.000+01:00

Harriott is well known to historians of mathematics (look up "Harriott's Principle", for example), but also, and much more widely, as the author of A Brief and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia.

Oh, and the Church would not have cared about drawings of the moon's surface; read your history.

hi friend, only one thing, the telescope was inven...

2009-02-01T01:28:00.000+01:00

hi friend, only one thing, the telescope was invented by a spanish (not in Holland), Juan Roget:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7617426.stm

Nice post.

I'm just surprised that this wasn't done by somebo...

2009-02-01T00:28:00.000+01:00

I'm just surprised that this wasn't done by somebody in Africa, ten thousand years before... After all, we all 'came from Africa', so Africans must have existed for millenia before the evil Europeans... How come to this day they haven't contributed anything of any use to humanity?

@TroyThat only further reinforces the idea that Ga...

2009-02-01T00:08:00.000+01:00

@Troy

That only further reinforces the idea that Galileo deserves the credit. He stood up and spoke. Even in the face of physical harm. If you can't or won't do that, you don't get the opportunity to receive the credit.

And, don't forget, being English he would not have gone up against the Catholic Church. The Church of England had long since separated from Rome.

He couldn't effing tell people his discoveries bec...

2009-01-31T23:09:00.000+01:00

He couldn't effing tell people his discoveries because hed rather live then be killed by going against the church. Not as easy as it seems. Read about history before giving your comments on history

"(tools as in instrument, not like 'anonymous' abo...

2009-01-31T22:45:00.000+01:00

"(tools as in instrument, not like 'anonymous' above)"

hehehe Hey, someone's got to paTroll "teh webs" and drive lifted trucks with off road wheels in the city.

-T

Dave - I'm pretty sure that 5 year olds and monkey...

2009-01-31T22:42:00.000+01:00

Dave - I'm pretty sure that 5 year olds and monkeys would be quite offended at being compared to Intarwebs McToughguy up above.

Personally, as an idiot myself I take considerable offense being compared to Trolling McTubes.

:D

-T

The old axiom "publish or perish" applies here. T...

2009-01-31T22:34:00.000+01:00

The old axiom "publish or perish" applies here. This guy didn't think to _tell_ anyone about his discoveries, so of course he was forgotten. Galileo deserves all the credit and fame that he received.

LOL @Dave Comment :)I think it is fascinating to s...

2009-01-31T21:27:00.000+01:00

LOL @Dave Comment :)

I think it is fascinating to see early works in a field; esp when they have such primative tools (tools as in instrument, not like 'anonymous' above).

Apparently 5 year olds, monkeys and idiots are abl...

2009-01-31T20:58:00.000+01:00

Apparently 5 year olds, monkeys and idiots are able to leave comments on blog entries too nowadays......nice contribution 'Anonymous'

who gives a sh*t.... a 5 year old kid can draw tha...

2009-01-31T20:52:00.000+01:00

who gives a sh*t.... a 5 year old kid can draw that.. and it's not like they were idiots or monkeys back then... yes they can draw, and speak, and sing, ffs...