--- Seth Jarvis <SJarvis@slco.org> wrote:
It's only a non-issue until you have to start thinking of new mnemonics to teach the names of planets to a hundred thousand kids each year. What'll it be?
The textbooks need to be updated and corrected to reflect our current knowledge and physical reality, but that's a separate issue. It is not a new problem. When I went through the primary and secondary education systems, Manifest Destiny was pretty much par for the course. Now days, the First Americans and their plight are much more realistically depicted. Similar to the historical example of the Lowell's canals on Mars, the classification of the minor planets is another opportunity to explain to school children (and adults) about how science really works. It is a hit and miss affair that sometimes gets it wrong. Theories are revised and evolve as incremental knowledge accrues. - Kurt __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com