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Did Jonathan Swift in "Gulliver's Travels" accurately predict the distances and orbital periods of Mars's moons long before they were discovered?
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Did Jonathan Swift in "Gulliver's Travels" accurately predict the distances and orbital periods of Mars's moons long before they were discovered?
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ToggleNo, Swift's numbers for the orbital distances and periods were not correct.
Wikipedia (1 statement)
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theness.com (4 statements)
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David Darling (blog) (2 statements)
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gullivercode.com (2 statements)
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ToggleYes, Swift accurately described the orbital distances and periods of the moons.
weirdsciencefacts.blogspot.com (5 statements)
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No, Swift's numbers for the orbital distances and periods were not correct.
Wikipedia
Moons of Mars - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This corresponds to the actual orbital distances and periods of Phobos and Deimos of 1.4 and 3.5 Martian diameters, and 7.6 and 30.3 hours, respectively, not remotely close to Swift's fictional satellites.[1]Voltaire's
theness.com
NeuroLogica Blog » Jonathan Swift Predicted the Moons of Mars
The Laputians gave figures of 3 and 5. The periods of Phobos and Deimos are 7.7 and 30.3 hours, respectively, while the Laputians reported 10 and 21.5.
NeuroLogica Blog » Jonathan Swift Predicted the Moons of Mars
Phobos and Deimos have orbits which are about 1.4 and 3.5 diameters from Mars’ center respectively.
NeuroLogica Blog » Jonathan Swift Predicted the Moons of Mars
These figures are correct to within an order of magnitude, which is another way of saying that they are wrong.
NeuroLogica Blog » Jonathan Swift Predicted the Moons of Mars
These figures are correct to within an order of magnitude, which is another way of saying that they are wrong.
David Darling (blog)
Jonathan Swift and the moons of Mars
Phobos is actually 6, 000 km from the surface of Mars and revolves around Mars in 7.7 hours, whereas Swift gave the values 13, 600 km and 10 hours, respectively.
Jonathan Swift and the moons of Mars
Deimos averages 20, 100 km from Mars and orbits in 30.3 hours; Swift gives 27, 200 km and 21.5 hours, respectively.
gullivercode.com
Swift, the Galileo Code and the Moons of Mars - The Gulliver Code
As a result, the mass of Mars that one would infer from Swift's data is about (3.86)10^24 kg, which is roughly 64% of the EARTH's mass, whereas the actual mass of Mars is only (6.43)10^23 kg, which is almost exactly 1/6 the mass "predicted" by Gulliver's Laputans.
Swift, the Galileo Code and the Moons of Mars - The Gulliver Code
These orbital periods are roughly similar to those guessed by Swift/Arbuthnot, but the radii were too big by about a factor of two.
unmuseum.org
The UnMuseum - Martian Moon Mystery
There is no way Swift could have known the moons were real yet he described Phobos' orbital period as 10 hours (very close to the real figure of 7.6) and Deimos' as 21.5 (close to the real 30.2).
Yes, Swift accurately described the orbital distances and periods of the moons.
weirdsciencefacts.blogspot.com
Weird Science Facts: 11 Weird Science Facts You Never Heard About
He did this more than 100 years before either moon was discovered.
Weird Science Facts: 11/09/07
He did this more than 100 years before either moon was discovered.
weirdsciencefacts.blogspot.com
He did this more than 100 years before either moon was discovered.
Weird Science Facts: 11 Weird Science Facts You Never Heard About
In Gulliver's Travels Jonathan Swift described the two moons of Mars, Phobos and Deimos, giving their exact size and speeds of rotation.
Weird Science Facts: 11/09/07
In Gulliver's Travels Jonathan Swift described the two moons of Mars, Phobos and Deimos, giving their exact size and speeds of rotation.
freepages.misc.rootsweb.ancestry.com
Strange and Useless Facts
He did this more than 100 years before either moon was discovered.
Strange and Useless Facts
53) In Gulliver's Travels, Jonathan Swift described the two moons of Mars, Phobos and Deimos, giving their exact size and speeds of rotation.
angelfire.com
Useless Facts - Science and Technology
He did this more than 100 years before either moon was discovered.
slightlywarped.com
Web Droppings: Little Known Facts
He did this more than 100 years before either moon was discovered.
Web Droppings: Little Known Facts
In Gulliver's Travels Jonathan Swift described the two moons of Mars, Phobos and Deimos, giving their exact size and speeds of rotation.
weirdworldstuff.blogspot.com
Weird World::Weird Things-Articles, Pictures, Videos, Stories ...
He did this more than 100 years before either moon was discovered.
Weird World::Weird Things-Articles, Pictures, Videos, Stories ...
In Gulliver's Travels Jonathan Swift described the two moons of Mars, Phobos and Deimos, giving their exact size and speeds of rotation.