THE SUN IN NATURE

Dominion, Volume 16, Issue 154, 17 March 1923, Page 7

THE SUN IN NATURE

SOLUTION OF SOLAR, PROBLEM. “The Sun in Nature” was the subject of a lecture at the Concert Ohatn- - her by Mr. F. R. Field, formerly mathematical master at Wanganui College. ? “Men in New Zealand, like those elsewhere, were sceptical when I announced that I had solved the solar problem,” he said. “Fortunately, 1 shortly afterwards scientists proved the accuracy of my statement that the. shape of the sun must keep on altering. In the light of present-day knowledge, you would have thought that none but a lunatic would have undertaken what I have done. Yet a schoolboy could understand it. I would ask you to reserve your judgment for two or'three evenings, when I will reveal to you many secrets hitherto locked up by Nature. The solution of this problem enables me to determine many things; for instance, the connection between the flora and fauna of New Zealand and those of South America, and the susceptibility of Wellinlgtonl to earthquake. I am pleased to bo able tt> tell you that, although two of the necessary factors precedent to an earthquake are present just now, the third is absent, and without the combination of the three an earthquake is impossible.” (Laughter.) “One thing that surprised me, in my investigations,” he said, “was the discovery that we have been using the law of gravitation in an improper way. Nowton himself, after formulating the law, used it in an improper way, and astronomers have been doing the same ever since. According to them, the attracting forco is greatest toward the centre, which is not only, the centre of gravity, but of attraction. If wo are dealing at an infinitely great distance, wo are right to take it as the centre of attraction; but, as tho attractive body comes nearer to us, the position alters altogether. Wo must consider each item in the whole body, instead of considering the whole body as one and all of tho energy attracted towards a particular point. A sphere exorcises more forco of attraction on its surface than anywhere else. Ito is a mistake to think that, as you como inwards, the gravitation increases. None of our calculations about tho moon have worked out satisfactorily; the moon refuses to move as we calculated it should move. On tho other hand, tho seas and continents of Mars are distributed as we expect them to be, In the solar solution, it is the rotation that causes the heat within. If the earth rotated once in 12 hours, instead of 24 hours, it would have been too hot to live in ; had it rotated in 48 hours, it would havo been too Last night Mr. Field led up to his subject sun spots, bv dealing with the phenomena of revolving nebulae and ipo rings of Saturn. He described tho effect of rapid rotation on solids and liquids, and explained the irregularity of the appearance of sun spots.