<p>When did we start using the phrase &quot;terrestrial planets&quot; to refer to the inner planets in English scientific writing?</p>

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2024-07-19T10:06:50.673Z
= I came here just to vote up the question. The term requires one to know that Venus and Mars are terrestrial, and that Jupiter and Saturn are not. That's got to be 1900s, right?
Miss Understands
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2024-07-19T15:15:55.850Z
I dunno about that. Cassini identified differential rotation in Jupiter's cloud bands in the 1690s and derived that Jupiter had no solid surface (or at least, that the surface is so deep that it didn't affect the atmosphere)
Darth Pseudonym
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2024-07-19T15:42:07.507Z
Most probably, this question is well suited for HSM.SE
Nilay Ghosh
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2024-07-19T18:15:41.817Z
The mass, size and density of Jupiter and Saturn would be known post-Newton and Kepler, as soon as the size scale of the Solar System was established.
ProfRob
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2024-07-19T19:51:00.510Z
Earliest undoubted use on google books. https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Gentleman_s_Magazine/s6PPAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22terrestrial+planets%22&pg=PA161&printsec=frontcover   Earliest use of the term on google books, but the meaning is unclear https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Dictionary_Historical_and_Critical_o/gVEhAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22terrestrial+planets%22&pg=RA2-PA673&printsec=frontcover
James K
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2024-07-20T04:31:18.090Z
Also see:  https://hsm.stackexchange.com/questions/17737/historically-when-were-the-terrestrial-planets-first-called-terrestrial-planets
M. A. Golding
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2024-07-23T01:01:54.427Z
[Google Ngram Viewer "terrestrial planets"](https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=terrestrial+planets&year_start=1500&year_end=2019&corpus=en-2019&smoothing=3) and [screenshot](https://i.sstatic.net/0k2tWcQC.png)
uhoh
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2024-07-23T01:05:33.753Z
This question is not off-topic here, but I agree that it is a better fit on [History of Science and Mathematics Stack Exchange](https://hsm.stackexchange.com/) and is more likely to get a satisfying answer there. Don't cross-post it there though. Instead, if you'd like, click "flag" under your post and ask for "moderator assistance" and explain that you were wondering if it could be migrated. Sometimes moderators wait for it to be closed here, but it won't because it's fine here. So you'll have to ask for migration without closure.
uhoh
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2024-07-23T03:20:13.823Z
@uhoh it is already crossposted there: https://hsm.stackexchange.com/q/17737/16966. So basically this post needs to be migrated and merged with the crosspost.
Nilay Ghosh
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2024-07-23T06:12:49.930Z
However Newton uses the term  *"planetis terrestibus"* in when writing about his alchemy: " https://newton.dlib.indiana.edu/text/ALCH00049/normalized#?c=&m=&s=&cv=1&xywh=1263%2C4217%2C1453%2C1444 "From the analogy of the superior and the inferior, it follows that the metals
are taken for the terrestrial planets, and the same names are assigned to the superior planets"  But its not clear if it has the same meaning then as now.
James K
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2024-07-23T07:06:43.487Z
I’m voting to close this question because it was cross-posted to HSM SE https://hsm.stackexchange.com/q/17737/3869 where it already has several answers. We avoid cross-posting because it leads to answer fragmentation, so this is one of those cases were closing to block answer posts is exactly the right solution.
uhoh
<planet><history><terminology>
Historically, when were the terrestrial planets first called terrestrial planets?
oaklight37
# Historically, when were the terrestrial planets first called terrestrial planets?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2024-07-19)

When did we start using the phrase "terrestrial planets" to refer to the inner planets in English scientific writing?

**Tags:** planet, history, terminology
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: = I came here just to vote up the question. The term requires one to know that Venus and Mars are terrestrial, and that Jupiter and Saturn are not. That's got to be 1900s, right?  
> **username_2**: I dunno about that. Cassini identified differential rotation in Jupiter's cloud bands in the 1690s and derived that Jupiter had no solid surface (or at least, that the surface is so deep that it didn't affect the atmosphere)  
> **username_3**: Most probably, this question is well suited for HSM.SE  
> **username_4**: The mass, size and density of Jupiter and Saturn would be known post-Newton and Kepler, as soon as the size scale of the Solar System was established.  
> **username_5**: Earliest undoubted use on google books. https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Gentleman_s_Magazine/s6PPAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22terrestrial+planets%22&pg=PA161&printsec=frontcover   Earliest use of the term on google books, but the meaning is unclear https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Dictionary_Historical_and_Critical_o/gVEhAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22terrestrial+planets%22&pg=RA2-PA673&printsec=frontcover  
> **username_6**: Also see:  https://hsm.stackexchange.com/questions/17737/historically-when-were-the-terrestrial-planets-first-called-terrestrial-planets  
> **username_7**: [Google Ngram Viewer "terrestrial planets"](https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=terrestrial+planets&year_start=1500&year_end=2019&corpus=en-2019&smoothing=3) and [screenshot](https://i.sstatic.net/0k2tWcQC.png)  
> **username_7**: This question is not off-topic here, but I agree that it is a better fit on [History of Science and Mathematics Stack Exchange](https://hsm.stackexchange.com/) and is more likely to get a satisfying answer there. Don't cross-post it there though. Instead, if you'd like, click "flag" under your post and ask for "moderator assistance" and explain that you were wondering if it could be migrated. Sometimes moderators wait for it to be closed here, but it won't because it's fine here. So you'll have to ask for migration without closure.  
> **username_3**: @uhoh it is already crossposted there: https://hsm.stackexchange.com/q/17737/16966. So basically this post needs to be migrated and merged with the crosspost.  
> **username_5**: However Newton uses the term  *"planetis terrestibus"* in when writing about his alchemy: " https://newton.dlib.indiana.edu/text/ALCH00049/normalized#?c=&m=&s=&cv=1&xywh=1263%2C4217%2C1453%2C1444 "From the analogy of the superior and the inferior, it follows that the metals are taken for the terrestrial planets, and the same names are assigned to the superior planets"  But its not clear if it has the same meaning then as now.  
> **username_7**: I’m voting to close this question because it was cross-posted to HSM SE https://hsm.stackexchange.com/q/17737/3869 where it already has several answers. We avoid cross-posting because it leads to answer fragmentation, so this is one of those cases were closing to block answer posts is exactly the right solution.  

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## 0 answers

