First Description of Discrete Stars Composing the Milk Way in Thomas Watson's Hekatompathia (1582)
History and Philosophy of Physics
2007-05-23 v1
Abstract
We note that the first unambiguous description of the Milk Way as being composed of a large number of discrete stars is in Sonnet 31 of Thomas Watson's (d 1592) Hekatompathia (1582), nearly 30 years before Galileo's description. We discuss implications of this early description.
Cite
@article{arxiv.physics/0305010,
title = {First Description of Discrete Stars Composing the Milk Way in Thomas Watson's Hekatompathia (1582)},
author = {Eric Lewin Altschuler and William Jansen},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:physics/0305010},
year = {2007}
}