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"IN PRIMARY school Babbage learned that there were nine planets in the solar system. None were known to exist outside it." There were only 7 planets known when
by drcube 14y ago
"IN PRIMARY school Babbage learned that there were nine planets in the solar system. None were known to exist outside it."
There were only 7 planets known when Charles Babbage was a youth. Neptune was discovered when he was an old man, and Pluto was not discovered until almost 60 years after his death.
- bcbrown 14y ago"Babbage" is the name of a column in the Economist, and is used in this sense to refer to the author of the column. So the writer is talking about his or her own schooling.