This is the first installment of The Mythology of Space, a series where we discuss the inherent connection between humanity, stories, and the stars. This first article covers the history of astronomy and the mythology of the 8 planets of our solar system.

Why doesn’t the whole world just speak the same language? It would be far easier for communication, resolve misunderstandings quickly, and assist international relations as well. Yet the fact that we have over 7,100 spoken languages today suggests that we don’t have any intention of creating a monolingual world anytime soon. And that raises the question: should we?