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> It seems they would have assumed it's a long cloud or something like that. I don't see why. The Chinese called it a river. The Greeks called it a circle. The
by thaumasiotes 2y ago
> It seems they would have assumed it's a long cloud or something like that.
I don't see why. The Chinese called it a river. The Greeks called it a circle. The Romans called it a road.
The English appear to have called it a girdle: https://www.etymonline.com/word/Milky%20Way https://www.etymonline.com/word/Milky%20Way
> in Middle English also Milken-Way, Milk-white girdle, and Milky Cercle.
["Milken-Way" is a direct translation of the Latin name, and "Milky Cercle" is a direct translation of the Greek name. Girdle is less easy to explain.]
> The ancients speculated on what it was; some guessed it was a vast assemblage of stars (Democrates, Pythagoras, even Ovid)
I don't think there are any texts attributed to Pythagoras, but we might have a text that says he thought so, or that the Pythagoreans thought so.
- cubefox 2y ago> > The ancients speculated on what it was; some guessed it was a vast assemblage of stars (Democrates, Pythagoras, even Ovid) > I don't think there are any texts attributed to Pythagoras, but we might have a text that says he thought so, or that the Pythagoreans thought so. It would be remarkable if the Egyptians thought so as well. Especially as they were much earlier.
- thaumasiotes 2y agoWhy does being earlier make it more or less remarkable? There were no relevant developments over the intervening period.
- cubefox 2y agoEarlier discoveries are always more remarkable.
- thaumasiotes 2y ago(A) How? (B) This wouldn't be a discovery in either case.
- cubefox 2y ago(A) Inventing / discovering calculus in the 16th century is very impressive, doing the same in the 20th century much less so. (Indeed this has happened several times.) (B) It would be a remarkable anticipation, which is similar.