OF CURRENT INTEREST

Taranaki Daily News, 25 July 1931, Page 13 (Supplement)

OF CURRENT INTEREST

BETWEEN 'ATOM AND STAR

(By Rev.

B. Dudley, F.R.A.S.)

A Hint Worth Noting.—Dr. Fotheringham, of the University Observatory, Oxford, stated at a meeting of astronomers recently held in London that there were very great difficulties to be confronted by those who would make themselves familiar with the work of ancient astronomers. One of these was the perishable nature of the papyri and bricks on which astronomical observations were recorded, and he expressed the fear that owing to want of permanence of the paper now being used a great many modern records would be lost to posterity. The Doctor quoted in contrast the special paper on which Brown’e Tables of the Moon had been printed, such material being employed expressly for the purpose of giving durability to valuable work achieved. The writings of Hipparchus, which today would have been extremely interesting and useful, he stated, have nearly all disappeared. Einstein and Religion. —The “Outlook” for February 9, 1931, gives publicity to the following by Professor Albert Einstein; “Speaking of the spirit that informs modern scientific investigations, I am of the opinion that all the finer speculations in the realm of science spring from a deep religious feeling, and that without such feeling they would not be fruitful. I also believe that this kind of religiousness which makes itself felt to-day in scientific investigations is the only creative religious activity of our time. The art of to-day, for example, can hardly be looked upon as expression of our religious instincts.” It is interesting to note, too, that the professor is an active member of a religious board which aims at the rehabilitation of Palestine as the natural home of the Hebrew people. As the Sands by the Sea. —"A few stars are known which are hardly bigger than the earth, but the majority are so large that hundreds of thousands of earths could be packed inside each and leave room to spare; here and there we come upon a giant star large enough to contain millions of millions of earths. And the total number of stars in the universe is probably something like the total number of grains of sand on all the sea-shores of the world.” Thus writes Sir James Jeans in “The Mysterious Universe.”

The Stars in their Courses. —This is the title of the latest book by the authority just quoted. His previous works have had a remarkable success. First there came “Astronomy and Cosmogony,” an approach to the subject by advanced mathematical methods. Then appeared a more popular volume, “The Universe Around Us,” some 60,000 copies of which were sold in a short time. “The Mysterious Universe” proved to have a still greater charm for the general public, largely, it is said, on account of the author’s attribution of the Universe, from atom to star cluster, to the working in some mysterious way of Mind-Force as the driving Power behind all things. No less than 75,000 copies were sold in a few months. The measure of success of . his new book, “The Stars in their Courses,” remains to be seen. It claims to be written wholly from a popular standpoint, being collected addresses through the microphone to the professor’s worldwide audiences, augmented by tupplementary matter. Its eight chapters introduce the subject of astronomy to the ordinary man, as the writer describes the various members of the solar family, including the parent Sun himself. The star-system to which we belong, he says, is slowly getting bigger and bigger, while its individual lights are growing ever feebler, a process that seems, from evidence he adduces, to be true also of the other stellar systems. Stars turn their weight into radiation by some means not yet determined, with the result that they expand in this way. “In some manner,” writes the author, “the material universe appears to 'be passing away like a tale that is told, dissolving into nothingness like a vision. The human race, whose intelligence dates back only a single tick of the astronomical clock, could hardly hope to understand what it means. Some day perhaps we shall know; at present we can only wonder.” The Goal of Progress. —William R. Shields, an optimist, of Brooklyn, New York, has some lines under the above title. They run on rather confidently—

“The stars are suns, the sun’s a star, And what and where and why they are We know. We do not have to grope For facts: we have the spectroscope. Great glasses sweep the studded skies And science follows on surmise. Dim globes sunk deep in space we see; We prophesy what is to be. Events far distant we can tell; We know our universe as well As once this world whereon we move We knew—all, all things now we prove; And, holding fast what’s apt and good,

Work surely on io brotherhood.” [Between Atom and Star.—Speaking not long ago to English students, Professor Eddington made a statement with reference to Man and the Universe which presents quite a fresh viewpoint from which to contemplate our place in the scale of things. He tried to assist the imagination of his young hearers by describing how, in the matter of size, man stands about midway between an atom and a star, rather nearer the former than the latter. He gave the number of atoms that would be required to build up a man’s body, and compared them with the number it would take to make an average-sized star. The figures are here withheld because ■ they convey no information. “From his central position man can survey the grandest works of Nature with the astronomer,” he stated, “or he can study with the physicist the minutest works.’’ He advised the students to look both ways: “For the road to a knowledge of the stars leads through the atom, and important knowledge of the atom has been reached through the stars.” Commenting upon this, a. well known writer in John o’ London’s Weekly says, “If you are a humorous individual you will realise the price Mau has to pay for holding a position midway between the atom and the star! In a game of blindman’s buff a star buffets him on one ear, swarms of atoms hit him on the other; ‘Catch us if you can; tell us what we are — then, poor man, you’ll know what you are yourself.’” Even Mr. Shields, who gives us the above lines, will probably admit that, after all. we have a long way to go yet.