There is no single person who is credited with the discovery of Mercury. Mercury is one of the five planets that can be seen in the night sky without using a telescope or binoculars. The planet Mercury has been known since ancient times and was observed for thousands of years by the people of many different cultures. One of the earliest records of Mercury comes from the Sumerians around 3,000 BC. Since Mercury never travels far from the sun in the sky, it is more difficult to see and was probably discovered later than brighter planets like Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. |