AGE OF EARTH

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18236, 3 November 1933, Page 5

AGE OF EARTH

THE L&T£ST ]ESTIMATE 15,000 MILES A SECOND STARS / LONDON, Sept. 13. Thousands of millions of years, and speeds of 15,000 miles a second, were juggled with before the mathematics and physics section bf'fhe British Association by Sir 'Eddington, director of Cambridge Observatory. Opening a discussion on “The Expanding Universe,” Sir Arthur said: "From our theories it turns out ..that the beginning of - tlie universe from a congested mass took place two thousand million' years'ago? There is great difficulty in not assigning an age of at least two thousand minion years' to the earth, so we seem to be coming to a theory that the earth is older than the universe itself. “Speaking of the beginning of things, one feels that one may as well be nangied for a sheep as a lamb. It looks as if we shall have to limit the evolution of the stars to somewhere about one hundred million years. ' “At a 'British Association meeting Lord Kelvin gave fifty million years as the limit of age of the sun and earth. We laugh at tnat limit now, and some future B.A. may laugh at the limits we havo placed to-daylf STARS RUNNING AWAY Sir Arthur ppt forward a- theory of the expansion'of the Universe due to millions of stats running away from us and from eacjtt other Ut incredißle speeds: ‘ ‘Outside oiir owm-galaxy of stars there are millions of other stars which appear to us';like!islafids. ’ It has been fdnnd that these. galaxies are running away from us;,‘Una the *srebter their distance the faster they move. That progression of speed with distance has been traced up to 150 million light years, and at .that distance if means a speed of 15,000 miles a second. ’ “ ' ~ ~~ “The' galaxies of stars, or nebulae as they are called, are running away from each other just as much as they are running away from us. Whether the universe has always been expanding and will continue to expand is another question. . “This theory is not universally accepted and in some quarters is regarded with scepticism. t£ must'.not be assumed that I regard that scepticism entirely with contempt. It xpaY IMS pointed out that the observational data aYpresent are not very The data have lffebii' r fdund with greht difficulty and "sorh& urieertainty.” 1 The need fqr caqtiqa ip accepting astronomical evidence, Sir Arthur said, reminded Jijim-pf “ the who Wrote to his wife, “I shallbehome D.Y. on Friday night, apd ia any case Saturdays” (Laughter.) “Ever’ since'•'l‘rofessor De Sitter pointed out that jthir relativity theory gave sopie .likelihood‘that the galaxies or spiral receding from us we have lqQkeff 'fo' , Sid riebulhe'‘to ; provide an answer to ’some “qT Ybe mysteries of physics, but T think a more crucial test is necessary before we can place anv I'ebajice qii the’theory of cosmical repulsion which'l have outlined.** Guying the discussion Professor Milne said the expsinydn Of the universe seemed to him the' xnost natural thing in the world. He added/ “The word. firmament is found in Genesis, ahT in'Heßrew means" expansion. A theory of obviously such ancient foundations must assuredly have something m it”