Category: Science - Earth/Agricultural/Farming
The Earth’s Beginning—The Nebular Theory—Many Applications of the Theory—The Founders of the Doctrine—Kant, Laplace, William Herschel: Their Different Methods of Work—The Vastness of the Problem—Voltaire’s Fable—The Oak-Tree—The Method of Studying the Subject—Inadequacy of our...
The Earth’s Beginning—The Nebular Theory—Many Applications of the Theory—The Founders of the Doctrine—Kant, Laplace, William Herschel: Their Different Methods of Work—The Vastne...
2. CHAPTER II.The Great Diurnal Motion—The Distinction between Stars and Planets—The Earth no more than a Planet—Relation of the Stars to the Solar System—Contrast between Aldebaran and Mars—...
3. CHAPTER III.Evolution of other Bodies in the Universe—The Nebulæ—Estimate of the Size of the Great Nebula in Orion—Photograph of that Nebula taken at Lick Observatory—The Dumb-bell Nebula—T...
4. CHAPTER IV.The Globular Star-clusters—Structure of these Objects—Variability of Stars in the Cluster—Telescopic Resemblance of a Cluster to a Nebula—Resolution of a Nebula—Supposition that...
5. CHAPTER V.The Sun to be first considered: its Evolution is in vigorous Progress—Considerations on Solar Heat—Size of the Sun—Waste of Sun-heat—Langley’s Illustration—Sun in Ancient Days—P...
6. CHAPTER VI.The Contraction of a Body—Helmholtz Explained Sun-heat—Change of a Mile every Eleven Years in the Sun’s Diameter—Effect of Contraction on Temperature—The Solar Constant—Limits t...
7. CHAPTER VII.The Inconstant Sun—Representation of the Solar System at different Epochs—Primæval Density of the Sun—Illustration of Gas in Extreme Tenuity—Physical State of the Sun at that Pe...
8. CHAPTER VIII.The Earth to be Studied—A great Experiment—The Diamond Drill—A Boring upwards of a Mile Deep—A Mechanical Feat—The Scientific Importance of the Work—Increase of Temperature with...
9. CHAPTER IX.Interior of the Earth—Illustration from Norway—Solids and Liquids—Rigidity of the Interior of the Earth—Earthquakes, how caused—Their Testimony as to the Rigidity of the Earth—D...
10. CHAPTER X.A Substitute for History—Photograph of the Great Spiral taken at the Lick Observatory—Solar System Relations Unimportant—Chaotic Nebulæ—Lord Rosse’s Great Discovery—Dr. Roberts’...
11. CHAPTER XI.The Solar System—Orbits nearly Plane—Satellites, Saturn’s Ring, Spiral Nebulæ—An Explanation of this Tendency of a System towards Flatness—The Energy of a System—Loss of Energy...
12. CHAPTER XII.The Primæval Nebula—A Planetary Nebula—The Progress of its Evolution—Unsymmetrical Contraction—Centres of Condensation—The Form ultimately assumed—Difference between Small Bodie...
13. CHAPTER XIII.Clouds—Fire-Mist—Vapour of Platinum—Components of Chalk—Constituents of the Primæval Fire-Mist—Objections—Origin of the Mist—Remarkable Discovery of the Century—Analysis of the...
14. CHAPTER XIV.Certain Remarkable Coincidences—The Plane of Movement of a Planet—Consideration of Planes of Several Planetary Orbits—A Characteristic of the Actual Planetary Motions not to be...
15. CHAPTER XV.Another Remarkable Coincidence in the Solar System—The Second Concord—The Direction of the Movements of the Great Planets—The Movement of Ceres—Yet Another Planet—Discovery of E...
16. CHAPTER XVI.Rotations of the Planets on their Axes.—The Older Planets—No Information about Uranus or Neptune or the Asteroids—The Speed of Rotation is Arbitrary so far as Kepler’s Laws are...
17. CHAPTER XVII.There are Difficulties in the Nebular Theory—The General Conformity of the Movements—Details of the Uranian Movements—The Anomaly in the Satellite of Neptune—Where the Difficult...
18. CHAPTER XVIII.Nebula not of Infinite Duration—8,300 Coal-Units was the Total Energy of the System—460 Miles a Second—Solar Nebula from a Collision—What we Know as to the Colliding Bodies—Prob...
19. CHAPTER XIX.Comprehensiveness of the Nebular Theory—Illustration—Huxley and the Origin of Species—Rudimentary Organs—The Apteryx—Its Evanescent Wings—The Skeleton—An Historical Explanation—...