DippyHippy
10-February-2004, 11:26 PM
I must tip my hat to VanderL because I wondered about this after reading his post elsewhere... he said about astronomy in it's infancy and I wondered if that was true, so I thought it would make a good point for discussion.
Astronomy is - arguably - the oldest of the sciences. Humankind has looked to the stars since pre-history and has pondered the mysteries of the universe. But when you look at it in that kind of timespan, then all the major discoveries (and as-yet unproven theories) have all occurred over the past 500 years or so.
When you look back at how our thoughts and theories about the universe have changed and ponder about the next 500 years, maybe VanderL has a point. Astronomy might be the oldest in terms of age, but in terms of knowledge, isn't it still in it's infancy?
Astronomy is - arguably - the oldest of the sciences. Humankind has looked to the stars since pre-history and has pondered the mysteries of the universe. But when you look at it in that kind of timespan, then all the major discoveries (and as-yet unproven theories) have all occurred over the past 500 years or so.
When you look back at how our thoughts and theories about the universe have changed and ponder about the next 500 years, maybe VanderL has a point. Astronomy might be the oldest in terms of age, but in terms of knowledge, isn't it still in it's infancy?