And then there was a bunch of nonsense that assumes Gallieo was the first to invent the telescope......
Neptune was known for thousands of years by many cultures
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No, actually, it's true that Galileo did not invent the telescope; he got the idea from a Dutchman named Hans Lippershey, who nobody knows much of anything about, so we don't know whether he came up with it or not.
So that scene in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves where Morgan Freeman whipped out a leather telescope could have happened, but we just don't have any evidence... but Neptune is still an awful long way out there, too far to be easily noticed by telescope.
And then there was a bunch of nonsense that assumes Gallieo was the first to invent the telescope......
You're right, he didn't invent it, however, I think it was Galileo who got the first patent, but I could be wrong.
Neptune was known for thousands of years by many cultures
As a god not a planet. FAIL.
Katsuro: I remember reading somewhere (great citation, isn't it?) that the planet Uranus was known to some early classical civilizations, though it was extremely difficult to see, and spotting it was considered a demonstration of extraordinarily good vision. But I'm afraid I can't confirm that -- and since there's no general tradition of such a planet being known to the ancients, as there is for Saturn and the other planets closer in, my inclination now is to doubt that claim.
But come to think of it, now, I may be misremembering -- it may be that it was spotting Saturn that was considered a test of good vision. I wish I could recall more clearly. Getting old sucks.
Theoretically, Neptune might be visible to the naked eye, since many people can see 8th magnitude stars in very dark skies. Galileo, I believe, recorded several observations of Neptune as it passed behind Jupiter, but didn't recognize them as a new planet. No one has found a reliable earlier record that I'm aware of; and they've looked, because earlier records might help make the orbital calculations more accurate (Neptune hasn't completed one Neptunian "year" since its official discovery).
I think, if I remember correctly, the Sumerians are the ancient civilization most commonly credited with having knowledge of planets that we knew nothing of until after Gallieo. But it's been a long time since I bothered to read anything about them so I've no idea if recent research has proved otherwise.
Their 12 body model of the solar system (sun, moon and 10 planets) does however leave out all the other moons in the solar system and has an extra planet which, I read somewhere (I'm as good as citing sources as you David D.G. lol), current astronomers have stopped lookign for as they don't think it is likely to exist. So I don't know if the Sumerians are a good example or not as they may have picked a number out of their ass that happened to be similar-ish to reality.
A Friend wrote:
I wouldn't be surprised if this jackass thinks Pluto was named after Mickey Mouse's dog.
I actually used to think this when I was about six years old, and I swear I thought all the other planets must be named after cartoon characters as well, and I know I thought there was a Planet Inspector Gadget. I also thought that the Milky Way galaxy was named after the candy bar.
The Sumerians, ancient Egyptians, Mayans, ancient Chinese, Tibetans, Hopi and many others had much more advanced astronomy than we do today. Check out Zecharia Sitchen videos on google video for startes
Oh look, Jakey boy has decided to turn up. "Kilik" is another ID he uses on other forums, by the way, and several of his posts at IIDB are cut and pastes of those he posted on those other forums under the name of "Kilik".
So, going to spread your useless woo and garbage here as well are you Jakey boy? Well be warned, people here don't pull their punches when they want to tell you EXACTLY what they think of you.
Roll up everyone, Jakey boy is here with his crystals and joss sticks woo ... polish your toe caps before use now! :)
Von Daniken claimed that ancient civilizations knew of Uranus and Neptune, but he's an extremely unreliable source.
Uranus, however, is visible with the unaided eye under very dark skies (rare nowadays, but easily available before the invention of electric lights). Somewhat oddly, it was apparently never recognized before Herschel in the 1700s (probably because it is so dim and slow-moving).
@John: 8th magnitude? I've normally seen it mentioned as 6th or a little dimmer (Wikipedia says 6.5), but maybe some people with exceptionally good vision can see fainter stars.
"And then there was a bunch of nonsense that assumes Helena Blavatsky was the first to invent the seance...... spirits were known for thousands of years by many cultures. Therefore YHVH, Genesis, Adam, and all that. And the I-Ching."
Confused?
So were we! You can find all of this, and more, on Fundies Say the Darndest Things!
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