Names
The English astronomer William Gilbert was the first to give a name to this mare, calling it Insula Medilunaria ("Middlemoon Island"). The idea for its present name originates with Michael Van Langren, who labelled it Sinus Medius in his 1645 map. Johannes Hevelius called the feature Mare Adriaticum ("The Adriatic Sea") in his 1647 map. Giovanni Riccioli called it Sinus Aestuum ("Bay of Hot Days") in his 1651 map.
Read more about this topic: Sinus Medii
Famous quotes containing the word names:
“Shut out that stealing moon,
She wears too much the guise she wore
Before our lutes were strewn
With years-deep dust, and names we read
On a white stone were hewn.”
—Thomas Hardy (1840–1928)
“Tonight there are only the winter stars.
The sky is no longer a junk-shop,
Full of javelins and old fire-balls,
Triangles and the names of girls.”
—Wallace Stevens (1879–1955)
“At present our only true names are nicknames.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)