“ For instance, the ancients believed that the earth was the back of an elephant that stood on a tortoise
that swam in a bottomless sea. Of course, what held up the sea was another question. They did not know
the answer.
The belief of the ancients was the result of imagination. It was a poetic and beautiful idea. Look at the
way we see it today. Is that a dull idea? The world is a spinning ball, and people are held on it on all
sides, some of them upside down. And we turn like a spit in front of a great fire. We whirl around the sun.
That is more romantic, more exciting. And what holds us? The force of gravitation, which is not only a
thing of the earth but is the thing that makes the earth round in the first place, holds the sun together and
keeps us running around the sun in our perpetual attempt to stay away. This gravity holds its sway not
only on the stars but between the stars; it holds them in the great galaxies for miles and miles in all
directions.
that swam in a bottomless sea. Of course, what held up the sea was another question. They did not know
the answer.
The belief of the ancients was the result of imagination. It was a poetic and beautiful idea. Look at the
way we see it today. Is that a dull idea? The world is a spinning ball, and people are held on it on all
sides, some of them upside down. And we turn like a spit in front of a great fire. We whirl around the sun.
That is more romantic, more exciting. And what holds us? The force of gravitation, which is not only a
thing of the earth but is the thing that makes the earth round in the first place, holds the sun together and
keeps us running around the sun in our perpetual attempt to stay away. This gravity holds its sway not
only on the stars but between the stars; it holds them in the great galaxies for miles and miles in all
directions.
Richard Feynman, The Meaning of it All
9 months ago
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