Mapping the Moon Before Galileo

ClockEndGooner writes "The BBC has posted an interesting piece on a British contemporary of Galileo who observed the surface of the moon and drew up a more complete set of lunar maps before the much celebrated Florentine. The first lunar cartographer, Thomas Harriot, who also made an early visit to the Jamestown colony in Virginia, observed the moon with an early telescope and mapped his observations five months before Galileo. Noted British astronomer, Sir Patrick Moore, is quoted in the article: 'I'm sorry Harriot isn't better known over here... after all, we all know Galileo. But Harriot was first... and his map of the Moon is better than Galileo's.' Harriot's achievement may not have been as well known, since he deliberately kept a low profile as two of his friends were imprisoned in the Tower of London for political crimes."

And...?

[SputnikPanic]

If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it...

Galileo stuck his neck out for his views and incurred the wrath of the Church. Of course his achievement would be better known than that of someone who was keeping a low profile.

Galileo, the moon-mapper

[Schiphol]

Galileo discovered the law of inertia and formulated the equations of uniformly accelerated movement, helped improve the telescope and the microscope, described the orbits of Jupiter's satellites and, apparently, drew a map of the Moon.
On the other hand, Thomas Harriot drew a better, earlier map of the Moon.
In conclusion, and given that we know who Galileo is, it is a historical injustice that we don't know who Thomas Harriot is.

Somehow the conclusion does not seem to follow, does it.

The reason why

[El Lobo]

The reason why Galileo is more known is because he not only observed the moon and draw some maps, but because he:

* Discovered the phases of Venus

* Discovered the rings of Saturn

* Discovered sunspots

* Observed and described the Milky way

* Confirmed in details the heliocentric model

* Discovered the satellites of Jupiter, thus confirming the the Earth was nothing "especial" but only one planet like any other

* And MUCH more...

What makes Galileo a giant was not only the quality of his observations but the enormous quantity as well.

Re:The reason why

[Anonymous Coward]

Not to mention the fact that he was attacked and imprisoned by the church for simply stating the TRUTH. He was not only a great scientist, he was also a great role model for every other scientist who has had to fight off the wackjob creationists and the anti-environmentalist moonbats.

Re:Galileo, the moon-mapper

[tverbeek]

No, the point the article makes is that in addition to everything else he did, Galileo also gets points for mapping the moon, while Harriot - who did it early and better - gets none. They figure it's an accomplishment worth noting. (The comment about Harriot being "known better" isn't in reference to Galileo, but in reference to his actual current status.)

Re:And...?

[SputnikPanic]

No question that Moore is well aware of Galileo's other achievements. But I sort of regard this accomplishment of Harriot's in the same way I do the Norse exploration/colonization of North America. Yes, it was quite a feat, and yes (to acknowledge the point of TFA) it deserves to be known, but did it fundamentally change what came after? Not really. History focuses on those who affect other people and the course of later events.

Re:What about the other great Moon explorer...

[Anonymous Coward]

As a matter of fact, it's all dark.