In Science and Science Fiction
In several modern Romance languages, terra (or French terre) is the name of planet Earth. Many science fiction authors call the planet Terra, following post-classical Latin astronomical terminology. In Warhammer 40,000 this is taken a step further, with Earth being referred to as Holy Terra. The term Terran is used by Philip K. Dick in many of his short stories. In Star Trek: The Next Generation, the Solar System is called the Terran system.
Authors who have used Tellus include C. S. Lewis in his Space Trilogy; E. E. Smith in his Lensman series; and Robert A. Heinlein in several of the stories in his Future History sequence. The chemical element Tellurium was named after Tellus by Martin Heinrich Klaproth in 1798.
Read more about this topic: Terra (mythology)
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