Date: Mon, 07 Jun 2004 10:56:00 -0400
From: Chuck Divine <chuck.divine at att.net>
To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at WSFA.org>
Subject: [WSFA] Re: Two quotes on the transit of Venus
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at WSFA.org>

Keith F. Lynch wrote:
 >When I googled for the above quote to save myself the effort of
 >typing it in, I also found an 1882 quote from  William Harkness:
 >
>   "There will be no other transits of Venus till the twenty-first
>   century of our era has dawned upon the earth, and the June
>   flowers are blooming in 2004.  When the last transit occurred the
>   intellectual world was awakening from the slumber of ages, and that
>   wondrous scientific activity, which has led to our present advanced
>   knowledge, was just beginning.  What will be the state of science
>   when the next transit season arrives God only knows.  Not even
>   our childrens children will live to take part in the astronomy
>   of that day."

Interesting footnote about longevity:  One of my grandfathers was born
in 1870.  The other three grandparents were born in 1882.  Of the seven
children both sets of grandparents produced, two are still alive -- and
it's reasonable to think all except the one who died in infancy could
still be alive if a few things about their lives had changed (like not
smoking four packs a day in two cases).

We have made some amazing progress in the past few centuries.

Chuck Divine