Question

When a famous scientist gave a public astronomy lecture, he described the orbits of the planets in the solar system and how the sun orbits the center of our galaxy. After he finished, an old lady at the back told him he was talking nonsense, as the world is flat and sits on the back of a tortoise. When he asked what the tortoise stands on, she replied it is tortoises all the way down.
Hawking opens his book about mankind's great scientific progress to date with an anecdote of a stubborn old lady who is determined to hang on to her superstitions despite informed individuals' best attempts to help her access the latest understanding of the universe's make up. Some people, it seems, just can't be taught a but Hawking shows he's going to try anyway.
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RELATED QUOTES
Although the old lady’s image is ridiculous, do scientists really know better? New technologies are helping to offer answers to age-bold questions about the universe and where humans came from. Maybe one day the answers will seem as obvious as the earth’s orbit, or as ridiculous as the image of the tortoises. Time (whatever it is) will tell.
Hawking does not side with the old lady, but he does stop to ask how it is that scientists can say they have better ideas than she does. Just stating a worldview does not mean that it is correct. This comparison shows that all people long to understand the universe and humanity's place in it.
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Greek philosopher Aristotle gave two good arguments for the earth being a sphere instead of flat. First, a lunar eclipse must be the earth blocking the sun’s light, and the shadow is always round, not elongated as it would be if the earth was flat. Second, the Greeks saw that the North Star (which lies over the North Pole) is more central in the sky the further north you sail, and closer to the equator the further south you travel. From this, Aristotle could even make an educated guess about the distance around the earth. Another point the Greeks noticed is that when ships came over the horizon, one always sees the sails first, and later the hull.

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Answer 1

Answer:

yes yes yes

Explanation:

no no no