If the Earth did not have a moon do you think we would have ever figured out?

Question

If the Earth did not have a moon, would mankind have ever figured out that we were not the center of the Universe? It was through observations of the moon that helped us understand that the Earth was orbited and orbiting other celestial bodies.

Answer 1

Eventually, but if we didn't have it, how would we know?

Answer 2

And all this time I thought the universe revolved around my daughter........

Answer 3

Eventually we would of figured it out. But it probably sped up the process.

Answer 4

The moon did get us to look at the heavens, and was a crucial part of the ancient Greek measurements of the cosmos.  Without the moon, it would have been MUCH longer for humans to know the size and distance to the sun.  But to say that we would never have found out we were not the centre of the universe is a big claim.  And most of that reasoning went from observations of Mars.  If Mars hadn't had such an elliptical orbit, then there would have been less incentive to continue observing {ancient thought was that the movements were in circles and this caused errors in observations which lead to correctly understanding the heliocentric system}.

Answer 5

Eventually yes.

Answer 6

yes we would figure it out with technology but it would just take later for people to figure that we are not the center of the universe.

Answer 7

If we didn't have a moon, where it is, that size and moving just like it does we would have no life on this planet so we wouldn't need to figure out where we are in the solar system.

It controls the tides and keeps the earth on its axis tilt.

No life would be possible on this planet if the moon were to leave.

Answer 8

Technically, without the moon a LOT would of never happened.

Answer 9

not only that but we never would have had night, just day

i think

Answer 10

No. Nien. No.

Answer 11

At a later time.

Answer 12

what about the cheese

Answer 13

yes because telescopes would still be invented to view the universe

Answer 14

Without the moon there would have been no tides and no sea carried life forms having to adapt themselves to the land. Evolution would have taken a very different and slower course so we  would not yet exist!

From the psychology of your question, I think its one of our nature that is being questioned, not evolution. Without us being aware of the orbitting moon, Man would still have been so egoistic and proud as to think of himself as the center of things for a good deal more years. So be grateful for the moon.

Answer 15

well if we didn't have the moon then the earth would have crashed into the sun because the earth is in the middle and so the sun and moon is like playing tug-o-war so thats what makes us stay in between them. All in all we would never knoe cuz Earth wouldn't excist without the moon.

Answer 16

yes because they still have technology that goes up there and help figure out things that we did not know but if we didn't have the moon we would be stuck because not night or tides or other things too

Answer 17

yes!!

Answer 18

Eventually.

Answer 19

it's a pretty good question I think. Pretty smart of some to wonder if we would exist at all had there not been a moon to. But to think the world would be sucked to the sun had there been no moon? WTF.

The moon while being the closest celestial body didn't need tools to be observed, however I wonder If it was gone maybe it would had been discovered sooner. Many Planets were known of and some of the moons to those planets. It may have been easier to posit that they were rotating around their planets if we didn't have our largest celestial body reinforcing the theory that things rotate around they Earth.

BTW: The status quo is always hard to cast away, it's a natural fear of change. We have people today that are afraid to change Social Security knowing that it is bankrupt now, but that fear of change is still there.

Answer 20

WHAT? We aren't the center of the universe? Off with YOUR head!

Answer 21

Of course, it wasn't the Moon that made those realizations possible.  It was the intellect of smart men who didn't take everything they were taught as gospel.  These smart men said to themselves, "Hey, maybe that priest really isn't the most reliable source for scientific info.  Let me look into this a little further myself and see what's what."

Answer 22

I think it would have eventually been discovered and accepted after a while

Answer 23

Actually I thought the moon confused us to thinking we WERE the center of the universe because we assumed the sun did the what the moon did

Answer 24

If we didn't have a moon we wouldn't be here, the capturing of the moon into our orbit was a vital part in the evolution of our  biosphere.  But lets just say we still evolved without the moon yes I believe we would have still come to the same conclusion because of the visual markers in space.  Science and religions would have developed quite differently and as a result cultures would be very different.  Who knows where we would be culturally without the moon ever being there.

The moon caused confusion which led to many accepting we were the center of the universe, without it it's quite possible we would have arrived at what we know now sooner.

Answer 25

we wouldnt be alive without the moon so no

Answer 26

no

We would not have been here to discuss the issue and make any discoveries.

The evolution of life to a bipedal mammal capable of thought requires the existence of a waterborne specie, living off the intertidal portion of the shore.  

Members of that specie that developed stronger fins, capable of supporting their weight so that they could scamper back to the water once the tide had receded, could continue to live and breed, thereby allowing more descendants whose fins grew stronger and, eventually turned to legs.

No Moon = no legs = no land animals (or, certainly, not as fast as we got them on Earth).

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Many years ago, I read many essays on this issue.  The main point was seeing the universe.  The Moon may have helped understanding the physics of astronomy a tiny bit faster, but not by much.

Living on a world without a firmament showing stars and planets would be the harder position (e.g., living under water or living on Venus with permanent cloud cover).

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The first Classical Greek astronomers who discussed our position in the universe (Are we the centre or not?), the shape of Earth (a sphere, a cylinder, a large disk?) and the size of the universe (very big, or a sphere of crystal with lights on the outside?) used arguments that did not include the Moon.

OK, one did use the spherical distance (angle) between the Moon at First quarter and the position of the Sun as an attempt to evaluate the size of the Solar system (distance to the Sun).

Answer 27

Eventually, I do believe it would have been figured out. I do believe that it would have taken much longer though.

Answer 28

Yes, of course.

Intresting, the Earth would be very different without the moon..

Answer 29

If the Earth didn't have a moon we wouldn't be here. It's kept the Earth's axis stable and prevented wild swings in climate that would have made complex lifeforms impossible.

Answer 30

who the h**l cares? besides, there's still stars and a sun. it probably would've just taken longer to find out.  that's kind of a dipshit question.

Answer 31

The chances are that we wouldn't exist.  The moon stabilizes the earth , preventing drastic climate changes that would otherwise fry or freeze us.