OT: Speed of light [was Re: Why not a Python compiler?]

[I V]

On Mon, 11 Feb 2008 14:07:49 -0800, Erik Max Francis wrote:
> experience.  The notion of impetus -- where an object throw moves in a
> straight line until it runs out of impetus, then falls straight down --
> is clearly contrary to everyday experience of watching two people throw
> a ball back and forth from a distance, since the path of the ball is
> clearly curved.

It's clear _to us_ because when we think about such things, we think in 
Newtonian terms. I'm not at all sure it would have been clear to people 
in the middle ages; when you throw a ball, it whizzes by so fast, it's 
hard to be sure how it's actually moving.