My evil side makes me wonder what myths we have today that will be de-bunked in 100 years. :)
How is that evil?
When Birds Migrated to the Moon
11–18 of 18 posts
Re: When Birds Migrated to the Moon
#12I'm glad to see this on HN. Francis Godwin's story is worth a read for anyone interested in the history of science fiction. The part about using geese to fly to the moon is fun, but it undersells Godwin's scientific imagination. A lot of things happen in the story: - The narrator asserts his agreement with Copernicus that the Earth rotates on its axis - The narrator discovers that the force of gravity is less on the…
It's cute to call it "proto" science fiction ("prescience"?), but much of recent science fiction doesn't have much to do with science. Some is engineering or technology fiction.
Technology is old. I think weaving (as in cloth) might be oldest - I don't count dogs, olives or fire as they were domesticated, not created.
Re: When Birds Migrated to the Moon
#13I'm glad to see this on HN. Francis Godwin's story is worth a read for anyone interested in the history of science fiction. The part about using geese to fly to the moon is fun, but it undersells Godwin's scientific imagination. A lot of things happen in the story: - The narrator asserts his agreement with Copernicus that the Earth rotates on its axis - The narrator discovers that the force of gravity is less on the…
It's cute to call it "proto" science fiction ("prescience"?), but much of recent science fiction doesn't have much to do with science. Some is engineering or technology fiction. Technology is old. I think weaving (as in cloth) might be oldest - I don't count dogs, olives or fire as they were domesticated, not created.
Blades are the oldest technology we have evidence of, iiuc.
Re: When Birds Migrated to the Moon
#14I'm glad to see this on HN. Francis Godwin's story is worth a read for anyone interested in the history of science fiction. The part about using geese to fly to the moon is fun, but it undersells Godwin's scientific imagination. A lot of things happen in the story: - The narrator asserts his agreement with Copernicus that the Earth rotates on its axis - The narrator discovers that the force of gravity is less on the…
Science, in essentially its modern form and related to it by direct transmission, was invented in the 11th century CE by al-Haytham working in Egypt in service of investigations recorded in his book Optics, that is explicitly acknowledged by the first European proto-scientists as defining conditions for their work.
Re: When Birds Migrated to the Moon
#15My evil side makes me wonder what myths we have today that will be de-bunked in 100 years. :)
Chances are that Alzheimer's will not be seen as caused by amyloid plaques. And the notion of electric power from magnetic-confinement fusion will be a grand joke.
In almost any field, you can find old mandarins struggling manfully to suppress the work of youngsters who will overturn their fond delusions as soon as they have retired or died. The former group, emeritus with plenty of free time, are all over Wikipedia defending their legacy against appalling new evidence.
There is even a law, attributed to Max Planck: "Science advances one funeral at a time."
Re: When Birds Migrated to the Moon
#16Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's cute to call it "proto" science fiction ("prescience"?), but much of recent science fiction doesn't have much to do with science. Some is engineering or technology fiction. Technology is old. I think weaving (as in cloth) might be oldest - I don't count dogs, olives or fire as they were domesticated, not created.
Blades are the oldest technology we have evidence of, iiuc.
You're right. Weaves wouldn't leave evidence, though the progression of rock, pointier rock, knapping seems easier than the leap of weaving, anyway - I'd guess it came about 70,000 years ago with the cultural explosion of cognition.
Re: When Birds Migrated to the Moon
#17Alice Gorman is a treasure - makes Twitter better by just being there.
Re: When Birds Migrated to the Moon
#18Earlier quoted context omitted.
Blades are the oldest technology we have evidence of, iiuc.
You're right. Weaves wouldn't leave evidence, though the progression of rock, pointier rock, knapping seems easier than the leap of weaving, anyway - I'd guess it came about 70,000 years ago with the cultural explosion of cognition.
Sharp rocks go back 2 million :)