Comments on: Jonathan Swift Predicted the Moons of Mars

By: wertys

wertys — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 07:29:20 +0000

I never thought when I started reading that entry that I would finally find out where Connecticut got its name ! That has bugged me for years…you are a mine of information as usual Dr Novella..

By: clgood

clgood — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 03:41:50 +0000

I read “Ares is the Greek name for the Roman god Mars.” to mean they were names for the same god, not that the Greeks took it from the Romans. Could be “Greek(Ares) = Roman(Mars)”.

I confess I was wondering why your were blogging about Swift until you got to the creationdiscovery cite. Talk about out of left field!

Hilarious.

By: bighouse

bighouse — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 22:57:41 +0000

I have a nit to pick with your statement:

“Ares is the Greek name for the Roman god Mars.”

You have this reversed. Greek civilization predated the Roman, and Ares predated Mars. Rome imported and adapted many aspects of Greek culture for it’s own use, including deities. Mars was a much more “user-friendly” version of Ares, better-suited to the expansionistic nature of the Roman state.

Otherwise, excellent article, as usual…

By: IdanH14

IdanH14 — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 22:17:57 +0000

I must say, I enjoy your blog and your writing. You reason everything and write clearly. Good job!

By: Roy Niles

Roy Niles — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 17:59:52 +0000

David M Harris, B.Sc., chairman of the Creation Discovery Project, has recently discovered evidence that Candide was in fact a true story. All Louisiana high school textbooks will be adjusted accordingly.

By: cuervo

cuervo — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 16:36:57 +0000

As Hauser said to Quaid :

“Get your ass to Mars.”

Good advice I think we can agree. Of course the best advice I ever received was written on a box of matches : “Keep dry and away from children.”

By: biot023

biot023 — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 15:14:30 +0000

“It is cool that one day people living on Mars will be familiar with many geological features of their world and its moons that have curious names with interesting histories.”

Do you really believe we’ll be living there?
I’d love to. Maybe I need to tweak production in my optimism gland …
Love the blog, love the podcast,
Doug.