The Reason We Have 7 Days in a Week
How did we get the days of the week? Neil deGrasse Tyson and comedian Chuck Nice break down the planets of the ancients and how they correspond to our days of the week.
How many planets were there to the ancient Greeks and Romans? Learn about the meaning of the word “planet,” the names of the days, and how we got seven days in a week. Plus, learn how Copernicus later discovered a planet that was right under our noses.
Timestamps:
00:00 - Introduction: The Days of the Week
00:28 - The Planets
2:04 - The Origin of Each Day
7:10 - Why We Have Seven Days
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Video Summary & Chapters
No chapters for this video generated yet.
Video Transcript
So Jack. Yes. We haven't talked about planets in a long time. This is true. Right. I think we're overdue. Throw a little extra planet pop culture.
Can you recite the planets in order? In order? Yes. Like coming from Mercury. Okay. Right. And then Venus, Earth, right. And then Mars going out after that. That's a big one.
Uh, there's Jupiter.
Mm-hmm.
And then you got Neptune behind Jupiter.
No, you got—
Oh, I'm—
Saturn, God.
These were Saturn, Neptune, and then, you know.
Uranus, Neptune.
Uranus, Neptune, sorry.
And then.
No.
No, and yeah.
We're done at Neptune.
Uranus, Neptune, and then.
We're done.
The planet count over the years has fluctuated.
Yes.
To the ancients, there were seven planets.
I will recite them for you.
Okay.
Mercury.
Okay.
Venus.
Venus.
Mars.
Jupiter, Saturn, the Sun, and the Moon.
All right, now I could see the Moon being considered
a planet because it's like coming and going.
No, because the definition of planet has changed.
In the day, planet was anything that moved
against the background sky.
Okay, so all the other stars are staying
kind of where they are.
Correct, what they call the fixed stars.
Then you got these little bodies that just kind of
wander along. Size didn't matter.
Wander along.
Size didn't matter.
Brightness didn't matter.
Did you move?
Did you move?
Against the background stars?
So any satellite.
The Greek word for wanderer,
because these are things that wandered
among the background stars, is planetes.
Planetes.
Yes.
Video Summary & Chapters
No chapters for this video generated yet.
Video Transcript
So Jack. Yes. We haven't talked about planets in a long time. This is true. Right. I think we're overdue. Throw a little extra planet pop culture.
Can you recite the planets in order? In order? Yes. Like coming from Mercury. Okay. Right. And then Venus, Earth, right. And then Mars going out after that. That's a big one.
Uh, there's Jupiter.
Mm-hmm.
And then you got Neptune behind Jupiter.
No, you got—
Oh, I'm—
Saturn, God.
These were Saturn, Neptune, and then, you know.
Uranus, Neptune.
Uranus, Neptune, sorry.
And then.
No.
No, and yeah.
We're done at Neptune.
Uranus, Neptune, and then.
We're done.
The planet count over the years has fluctuated.
Yes.
To the ancients, there were seven planets.
I will recite them for you.
Okay.
Mercury.
Okay.
Venus.
Venus.
Mars.
Jupiter, Saturn, the Sun, and the Moon.
All right, now I could see the Moon being considered
a planet because it's like coming and going.
No, because the definition of planet has changed.
In the day, planet was anything that moved
against the background sky.
Okay, so all the other stars are staying
kind of where they are.
Correct, what they call the fixed stars.
Then you got these little bodies that just kind of
wander along. Size didn't matter.
Wander along.
Size didn't matter.
Brightness didn't matter.
Did you move?
Did you move?
Against the background stars?
So any satellite.
The Greek word for wanderer,
because these are things that wandered
among the background stars, is planetes.
Planetes.
Yes.
