Names
Democritus is named after the Greek philosopher of the same name. Like many of the craters on the Moon's near side, it was given its name by Giovanni Riccioli, whose 1651 nomenclature system has become standardized. Earlier lunar cartographers had given the feature different names: Michael van Langren's 1645 map calls it "Alfonsi IX Reg. Cast." after Alfonso IX of León and Castile, and Johannes Hevelius called it "Mons Bontas".
Read more about this topic: Democritus (crater)
Famous quotes containing the word names:
“I would to God thou and I knew where a commodity of good names were to be bought.”
—William Shakespeare (15641616)
“Well then, its Granny speaking: I dunnow!
Mebbe Im wrong to take it as I do.
There aint no names quite like the old ones, though,
Nor never will be to my way of thinking.
One mustnt bear too hard on the newcomers,
But theres a dite too many of them for comfort....”
—Robert Frost (18741963)
“In a time of confusion and rapid change like the present, when terms are continually turning inside out and the names of things hardly keep their meaning from day to day, its not possible to write two honest paragraphs without stopping to take crossbearings on every one of the abstractions that were so well ranged in ornate marble niches in the minds of our fathers.”
—John Dos Passos (18961970)