by Chris Peterson » Thu Dec 27, 2012 12:16 am
geckzilla wrote:Well, then, I suppose you should stop classifying any object. Henceforth we shall not distinguish oranges from apples and all will be known simply as fruits.
But of course, that describes our classification of Solar System objects (and now, extrasolar objects) very well. We have dozens or hundreds of planets circling the Sun, and they are finely classified- terrestrial planets, gas giant planets, dwarf planets, asteroidal planets, etc. Just because we have apples and oranges doesn't mean we don't have fruit, and just because we have gas giants and dwarf planets doesn't mean we don't have planets.
[quote="geckzilla"]Well, then, I suppose you should stop classifying any object. Henceforth we shall not distinguish oranges from apples and all will be known simply as fruits.[/quote]
But of course, that describes our classification of Solar System objects (and now, extrasolar objects) very well. We have dozens or hundreds of planets circling the Sun, and they are finely classified- terrestrial planets, gas giant planets, dwarf planets, asteroidal planets, etc. Just because we have apples and oranges doesn't mean we don't have fruit, and just because we have gas giants and dwarf planets doesn't mean we don't have planets.