Part, §

  1 Int,  4  |          midst of his labors on July 11, 1909, he left a place at
  2 Int,  2  |          Wallace, Nova Scotia, March 12, 1835. His father, who was
  3 Text,  14|         which is probably as high as 150 miles per second. Knowing
  4 Text,  16|         purpose were commenced about 1750 at the Greenwich Observatory,
  5 Int,  2  |               Nova Scotia, March 12, 1835. His father, who was a teacher,
  6 Text,  9 |            Thus things went on until 1837, when Bessel announced that
  7 Int,  2  |              Harvard University till 1861, when he was appointed professor
  8 Int,  2  |          University, Baltimore, from 1884.~
  9 Int,  2  |         retired as a rear admiral in 1897, having served besides as
 10 Text,  10|          numbers - that is, to 1, 7, 19, etc. Comparing these volumes
 11 Int,  4  |            of his labors on July 11, 1909, he left a place at the
 12 Text,  10|              that of the third space 27 times, and so on, as the
 13 Text,  11|              would travel in about 3,300 years.~
 14 Text,  12|            which light would require 6,600 years to travel.~
 15 Text,  10|             numbers - that is, to 1, 7, 19, etc. Comparing these
 16 Text,  10|            the second sphere will be 8 times the unit; that of
 17 Text,  14|            proposed, having a radius 800,000 times the distance of
 18          | above
 19 Text,  10|            for this idea, but in the absence of better methods it does
 20 Text,  11|      supposition for the time being. Accepting the view that they are nearly
 21 Int,  3  |              popularization; and the accompanying paper is a good example
 22 Text,  1 |           upon thousands of years of accurate observation, will reach
 23 Int,  3  |    conception of the layman; and the achievements which brought Newcomb honors
 24 Text,  6 |              any with which were are acquainted. But, different though they
 25 Text,  7 |             to have some idea of its acreage. We may do this if we know
 26 Int,  3  |             He had, nevertheless, an admirable power of clear exposition
 27 Int,  2  |             he was retired as a rear admiral in 1897, having served besides
 28 Text,  19|               must excite wonder and admiration. The general conclusion
 29 Text,  9 |             to such perfection as to admit of the measurement. From
 30 Text,  1 |            what science may suggest, admitting in advance that the sphere
 31 Text,  1 |            may suggest, admitting in advance that the sphere of exact
 32 Text,  2 |               beside which all human affairs sink into insignificance.
 33 Text,  10|            of better methods it does afford us some basis for reasoning.~
 34 Text,  18|            most conclusive answer is afforded by the measure of starlight.
 35          | again
 36 Text,  19|           and not to any obstructing agency.~
 37 Text,  3 |             which form its cloudlike agglomerations, are found to be mostly
 38 Text,  16|             can be made, it seems to agree fairly well with the results
 39 Text,  2 |             too early in the season, Aldebaran will be seen somewhere in
 40 Text,  6 |         though they may be, they are alike in their general character
 41 Text,  2 |    consciousness of a stupendous and all-embracing frame, beside which all
 42 Text,  2 |               I hope the reader will allow me to at least fancy him
 43 Text,  9 |           hundred miles away. One is allowed to look at that distant
 44 Int,  2  |            computer on the "Nautical Almanac" brought him to Cambridge,
 45          | almost
 46          | along
 47 Text,  9 |             The nearest star of all, Alpha Centauri, visible only in
 48          | already
 49          | also
 50 Text,  2 |         Aquila, marked by the bright Altair, between two smaller but
 51 Text,  1 |            shall ignore the question altogether, like Eve in the presence
 52          | always
 53 Int,  1  |            spite of the fertility of America in mechanical invention
 54 Int,  4  |          left a place at the head of American science that will not easily
 55 Text,  9 |            to measure just about the amount of parallax that Bessel
 56 Text,  2 |            were seen by our earliest ancestors just as we see them now.
 57 Text,  9 |              until 1837, when Bessel announced that measures with a heliometer -
 58 Text,  8 |              swings through its vast annual circuit round the sun, the
 59 Text,  18|                 This question may be answered quite definitely if we grant
 60 Text,  3 |            whole? We may commence by answering this question in a somewhat
 61 Text,  20|              boundary. We may fairly anticipate that each successive generation
 62 Text,  5 |             same nature in every two antipodal regions of the heavens.~
 63 Text,  2 |              the burden of all human anxiety - as by the contemplation
 64          | anywhere
 65 Text,  20|         stars, which, to our vision, appears as the Milky Way. While
 66 Int,  1  |             mechanical invention and applied science, there are few branches
 67 Text,  16|           When an attempt is made to apply it, so as to obtain a definite
 68 Int,  2  |    University till 1861, when he was appointed professor of mathematics
 69 Text,  20|           the visible stars has some approximation to a boundary. We may fairly
 70 Text,  2 |            be chosen, the stupendous arch of the Milky Way will pass
 71 Text,  2 |        conspicuous stars. The bright Arcturus will be somewhere in the
 72 Text,  15|      telescope, and the question may arise whether our results are
 73 Text,  19|              human vision, even when armed with the most powerful telescopes.
 74 Text,  2 |              a speed beyond all that art can produce on earth, without
 75 Text,  17|            inquiring reader may here ask another question. Granting
 76 Text,  2 |            to ordinary vision in the aspect of the constellation. Not
 77 Text,  9 |             cold upon it or upon the atmosphere through which he was obliged
 78 Text,  16|            reflect that, in order to attack the problem in question
 79 Text,  9 |    Copernicus to that of Bessel many attempts had been made to measure
 80 Text,  2 |           the universe. If summer or autumn be chosen, the stupendous
 81 Text,  2 |             profit in late summer or autumn-winter would do equally well were
 82 Text,  9 |          able, as a general rule, to avail himself of better instruments
 83 Text,  16|               Yet, by taking general averages among groups of stars, most
 84 Text,  2 |              where he can lie on his back on bench or roof, and scan
 85 Int,  2  |            Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, from 1884.~
 86 Text,  10|       methods it does afford us some basis for reasoning.~
 87 Text,  2 |       constellation Lyra, led by its beautiful blue Vega of the first magnitude,
 88          | become
 89          | becoming
 90          | begin
 91 Text,  2 |            he can lie on his back on bench or roof, and scan the whole
 92          | beside
 93 Text,  2 |            should begin his study by betaking himself on a clear, moonless
 94 Text,  18|              the whole heavens would blaze with the light of countless
 95 Text,  2 |           Lyra, led by its beautiful blue Vega of the first magnitude,
 96 Text,  3 |               are found to be mostly bluer in color, from one extreme
 97 Int,  2  |                          Newcomb was born in the village of Wallace,
 98          | both
 99 Text,  20|            to make more definite the boundaries of our system of stars,
100 Text,  16|            Greenwich Observatory, by Bradley, then Astronomer Royal of
101 Int,  1  |       applied science, there are few branches of pure science in which
102 Text,  6 |             many of them in the most brilliant of our constellations -
103 Text,  3 |             on which the universe is built. It is a girdle which seems
104 Text,  2 |             entirely relieved of the burden of all human anxiety - as
105 Int,  3  |     difficulty and complexity of the calculations involved are beyond the
106 Text,  8 |            other. This difference is called the parallax of the stars;
107 Text,  2 |     circumstances most favorable for calm thought will form a new
108 Int,  2  |              Almanac" brought him to Cambridge, Mass., where he studied
109 Text,  3 |             of things, each of which came into existence in its own
110 Int,  3  |            of his subject which were capable of popularization; and the
111 Text,  9 |           even some of the 100 stars carefully measured must still remain
112 Text,  11|                           Now we can carry on our computation as we
113 Text,  2 |              obtained at any time by ceasing from our labors, and weary
114 Text,  14|             by about twenty-five per cent. than that derived from
115 Text,  9 |           nearest star of all, Alpha Centauri, visible only in latitudes
116 Text,  3 |              those which lie in that central region within it where our
117 Text,  20|          astronomers, through coming centuries, will obtain a little more
118 Text,  16|              that we are continually changing the position from which
119 Text,  3 |           bounded whole. It is not a chaos, it is not even a collection
120 Text,  6 |           are alike in their general character throughout the whole field
121 Text,  6 |             precision is seen in the chemical elements of which stars
122 Int,  3  |                            Newcomb's chief labors were in the department
123 Text,  5 |              sky, no matter where we choose them. If we take them in
124 Text,  2 |               If summer or autumn be chosen, the stupendous arch of
125 Text,  2 |              man who does this under circumstances most favorable for calm
126 Int,  3  |            the learned of almost all civilized countries have to be taken
127 Text,  10|             through space. We cannot claim any numerical exactness
128 Text,  6 |              probable that a certain class of very bright stars known
129 Text,  15|          average distance of certain classes of stars.~
130 Text,  19|           the latter would not be so clearly seen as it is. Since we
131 Text,  9 |             or upon the going of his clock. Thus things went on until
132 Text,  3 |            naked eye, which form its cloudlike agglomerations, are found
133 Text,  9 |       perhaps the effect of heat and cold upon it or upon the atmosphere
134 Text,  3 |              chaos, it is not even a collection of things, each of which
135 Text,  3 |          found to be mostly bluer in color, from one extreme to the
136 Text,  20|              of astronomers, through coming centuries, will obtain a
137 Text,  3 |          universe as a whole? We may commence by answering this question
138 Text,  16|      precision for this purpose were commenced about 1750 at the Greenwich
139 Text,  3 |            there would be nothing in common between two widely separate
140 Text,  6 |              own course with a speed comparable with that of the earth around
141 Text,  20|            Milky Way, we should find comparatively few stars beyond the limits
142 Text,  1 |             exact knowledge is small compared with the possibilities of
143 Int,  3  |           bodies. The difficulty and complexity of the calculations involved
144 Text,  6 |            and into which we resolve compounds in our laboratories. These
145 Text,  3 |          this question in a somewhat comprehensive way. It is possible only
146 Text,  10|           units of volume which they comprise, when we take for this unit
147 Text,  19|           believe that the Milky Way comprises the more distant stars of
148 Int,  2  |           years later, a position as computer on the "Nautical Almanac"
149 Text,  2 |              east. When attention is concentrated on the scene the thousands
150 Text,  10|            universe is situated into concentric spheres drawn at various
151 Text,  2 |               when he has no earthly concern to disturb the serenity
152 Text,  18|             in reaching us. The most conclusive answer is afforded by the
153 Text,  19|           system, we may feel fairly confident that not much light can
154 Text,  20|             its distance, we may yet confidently say that it is bounded.
155 Text,  1 |              in studying it we shall confine our speculations within
156 Text,  2 |          will fill the mind with the consciousness of a stupendous and all-embracing
157 Text,  16|              intervals of at least a considerable fraction of a century, we
158 Text,  6 |    throughout the whole field we are considering. Even in such a feature
159 Text,  16|            we have heretofore spoken consist in the change in the direction
160 Text,  2 |              between two smaller but conspicuous stars. The bright Arcturus
161 Text,  13|           measured and the number is constantly increasing.~
162 Text,  6 |            the most brilliant of our constellations - which are scattered along
163 Text,  5 |            which the whole system is constructed, we have first to notice
164 Text,  6 |              of these bodies seem to contain elements which we do not
165 Text,  20|           can say is that the region containing the visible stars has some
166 Text,  2 |             me to at least fancy him contemplating it in this way.~
167 Text,  2 |            human anxiety - as by the contemplation of the spectacle presented
168 Text,  16|               therefore, that we are continually changing the position from
169 Text,  19|           theories of modern science converge towards the view that, in
170 Text,  9 |        measurement. From the time of Copernicus to that of Bessel many attempts
171 Text,  7 |              to the number of grains counted. If we find ten grains in
172 Text,  18|              blaze with the light of countless millions of distant stars
173 Int,  3  |              of almost all civilized countries have to be taken on trust
174 Int,  2  |      eighteen we find him teaching a country school in Maryland. Two
175 Text,  18|       rapidly falls off when we make counts of the fainter telescopic
176 Text,  9 |            star in the constellation Cygnus had a parallax of one-third
177 Text,  16|             one star involves a good deal of computation, and if we
178 Text,  16|        enormous task the astronomers dealing with this problem have before
179 Int,  1  |            Simon Newcomb was, at his death, the most distinguished
180 Text,  1 |            observation, will reach a decision on this subject without
181 Text,  16|             for the purpose are very deficient. The proper motion of a
182 Text,  6 |          stars. Here again we have a definable characteristic extending
183 Text,  18|       question may be answered quite definitely if we grant that light from
184 Text,  9 |      measured with a greater or less degree of probability. The work
185 Text,  8 |      measuring it is one of the most delicate and difficult in the whole
186 Int,  3  |             chief labors were in the department of mathematical astronomy,
187 Text,  14|      twenty-five per cent. than that derived from the measures of parallax.
188 Text,  2 |                       The reader who desires to approach this subject
189 Text,  3 |     structure, and diversity only in details. The Milky Way itself will
190 Text,  16|             Even since his time, the determinations made by each generation
191 Text,  6 |              diversity might seem to detract from the unity of the whole;
192 Text,  1 |            case, it might appear the dictate of wisdom to leave its consideration
193          | did
194 Int,  4  |            life of his time. When he died in the midst of his labors
195 Int,  3  |             the heavenly bodies. The difficulty and complexity of the calculations
196 Int,  3  |     mathematical astronomy, and were directed toward the explanation of
197 Text,  6 |              we base our conclusions directly upon them. The point they
198 Text,  19|            During the last few years discoveries of dark and therefore invisible
199 Text,  14|           stars. But, after all, the discrepancy does not change the general
200 Text,  6 |            least, of forms of matter dissimilar to any with which were are
201 Int,  1  |               at his death, the most distinguished figure.~
202 Text,  16|            likely that the stars are distributed through space with some
203 Text,  2 |            has no earthly concern to disturb the serenity of his thoughts,
204 Text,  10|            now return to the idea of dividing the space in which the universe
205 Text,  9 |              must still remain quite doubtful.~
206 Text,  6 |            unity is seen. The reader doubtless knows that each of these
207 Text,  20|              system of stars, and to draw more and more probable conclusions
208 Text,  6 |             through the universe. In drawing attention to these points
209 Text,  10|              into concentric spheres drawn at various distances around
210 Text,  9 |              more than once had some eager astronomer thought himself
211 Text,  2 |            the sky, were seen by our earliest ancestors just as we see
212 Text,  2 |          observation is not made too early in the season, Aldebaran
213 Text,  2 |              evening, when he has no earthly concern to disturb the serenity
214 Int,  4  |       American science that will not easily be filled.~
215 Text,  2 |             be seen somewhere in the east. When attention is concentrated
216 Int,  4  |           originality on finance and economics, and played a leading part
217 Int,  2  |              gave him his elementary education; and at the age of eighteen
218 Int,  2  |         education; and at the age of eighteen we find him teaching a country
219 Int,  2  |              a teacher, gave him his elementary education; and at the age
220 Text,  6 |          only serve still further to enforce the unity which runs through
221 Text,  16|             then Astronomer Royal of England. But out of 3,000 stars
222 Text,  16|              century, we see what an enormous task the astronomers dealing
223 Text,  2 |            of temperature should not enter. The thinking man who does
224 Text,  16|       heavens at two widely separate epochs. Observations of sufficient
225 Text,  4 |                     In the preceding essay on the structure of the
226 Text,  1 |          sound scientific reasoning. Essaying to do this, I invite the
227          | etc
228 Text,  19|           the view that, in the pure ether of space, no single ray
229 Text,  1 |            question altogether, like Eve in the presence of Raphael;
230 Text,  2 |         himself on a clear, moonless evening, when he has no earthly
231 Text,  10|           cannot claim any numerical exactness for this idea, but in the
232 Text,  7 |             the ten bushels. Then we examine a space two or three feet
233 Text,  11|              the heavens. This is an exceedingly rough estimate, but let
234          | except
235 Text,  19|             which, even to-day, must excite wonder and admiration. The
236 Text,  20|             that beyond this nothing exists. What we can say is that
237 Text,  1 |                            We cannot expect that the wisest men of our
238 Int,  3  |             were directed toward the explanation of the observed movements
239 Int,  3  |             admirable power of clear exposition of those parts of his subject
240 Text,  6 |             definable characteristic extending through the universe. In
241 Text,  19|       another possible cause for the extinction of light. During the last
242 Text,  19|             the stars is in some way extinguished or obstructed in its passage
243 Text,  11|            surface of this sphere by extracting the cube root of this number,
244 Text,  8 |         different when seen from one extremity of the circuit than when
245 Text,  19|         which actually exist are too faint to be seen by human vision,
246 Text,  19|            to their distance and the faintness of their intrinsic light,
247 Text,  18|         number of the latter rapidly falls off when we make counts
248 Text,  2 |            will allow me to at least fancy him contemplating it in
249 Text,  7 |           the nearest; possibly even farther than this. This conclusion
250 Int,  2  |          Scotia, March 12, 1835. His father, who was a teacher, gave
251 Text,  14|             The probabilities are in favor of the result giving the
252 Text,  2 |             under circumstances most favorable for calm thought will form
253 Text,  6 |          considering. Even in such a feature as the proper motions of
254 Text,  2 |              described. As we make a feeble attempt to learn what science
255 Text,  19|          stars of our system, we may feel fairly confident that not
256 Int,  1  |                      In spite of the fertility of America in mechanical
257 Text,  5 |             Milky Way, we shall find fewer stars, but they will be
258 Text,  18|            sixth magnitude as of the fifth; nearly four times as many
259 Int,  1  |               the most distinguished figure.~
260 Text,  2 |           side of the Milky Way will fill the mind with the consciousness
261 Int,  4  |             vigor and originality on finance and economics, and played
262 Text,  16|      definite result, the astronomer finds that the data now available
263 Text,  20|            its vast extent. Could we fly out to distances equal to
264 Text,  11|            throughout space, it will follow that they must be contained
265 Text,  16|        during all historic times. It follows, therefore, that we are
266 Text,  19|             any number of dark ones, forever invisible in our telescopes.
267 Text,  2 |   insignificance. A new idea will be formed of such a well-known fact
268 Text,  6 |       composed, in part at least, of forms of matter dissimilar to
269 Text,  19|             the facts as he set them forth do not justify the conclusion,
270 Text,  16|              at least a considerable fraction of a century, we see what
271 Text,  2 |        thousand stars which form the framework of the sky, were seen by
272 Text,  16|           complete and systematic to furnish the material for anything
273          | further
274 Text,  1 |            its consideration to some future age, when it may be taken
275 Int,  2  |           father, who was a teacher, gave him his elementary education;
276 Text,  9 |             It may be interesting to give an idea of this quantity.
277 Text,  14|           are in favor of the result giving the greater thickness of
278 Text,  9 |              one edge of the pane of glass and then through the opposite
279 Int,  2  |             Navy. He remained in the government service till he was retired
280 Text,  17|           here ask another question. Granting that all the stars we can
281 Text,  16|          commenced about 1750 at the Greenwich Observatory, by Bradley,
282 Text,  16|        taking general averages among groups of stars, most of which
283 Int,  2  |           Mass., where he studied in Harvard University till 1861, when
284 Int,  4  |               he left a place at the head of American science that
285 Text,  9 |    instrument, perhaps the effect of heat and cold upon it or upon
286 Text,  2 |              scan the whole vault of heaven at one view. He can do this
287 Int,  3  |            observed movements of the heavenly bodies. The difficulty and
288 Text,  9 |       announced that measures with a heliometer - the most refined instrument
289          | hence
290          | Her
291 Text,  16|          parallaxes of which we have heretofore spoken consist in the change
292 Text,  14|           limit which is probably as high as 150 miles per second.
293 Text,  16|             through space during all historic times. It follows, therefore,
294 Text,  2 |    reflecting that, during all human history, the sun, carrying the earth
295 Int,  3  |   achievements which brought Newcomb honors from the learned of almost
296 Text,  2 |              of this starry frame, I hope the reader will allow me
297 Int,  2  |   mathematics and astronomy in Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, from
298 Text,  13|         Still the motions of several hundreds have been measured and the
299 Text,  19|           which was, in fact, rather hypothetical. The theories of modern
300 Text,  1 |              is not whether we shall ignore the question altogether,
301 Text,  7 |     connected with the Milky Way. To illustrate the principle, suppose a
302 Text,  10|         Regarding this as a unit, we imagine ourselves to measure out
303 Text,  20|               It is surrounded by an immense girdle of stars, which,
304 Text,  16|            have before them, and how imperfect must be any determination
305 Text,  9 |             other cause, perhaps the imperfections of his instrument, perhaps
306 Text,  19|           numerous as to cut off any important part of the light from the
307 Text,  13|             the number is constantly increasing.~
308 Text,  19|          which would have been quite incredible a very few years, ago and
309 Text,  16|             as a general conclusion, indicated by several methods of making
310 Text,  14|         average speed with which the individual stars move in space; and
311 Text,  3 |          situated. The minute stars, individually far beyond the limits of
312 Text,  5 |          each of the two regions. We infer from this that whatever
313 Text,  18|              that, were the universe infinite in extent, and the stars
314 Text,  1 |              up with better means of information than we now possess. But
315 Text,  10|           this unit the smallest and innermost of the spheres, having a
316 Text,  2 |              human affairs sink into insignificance. A new idea will be formed
317 Int,  4  |          leading part in the general intellectual life of his time. When he
318 Text,  13|           result of which will be of interest. It is based on the proper
319 Text,  9 |     one-third of a second. It may be interesting to give an idea of this
320 Int,  4  |                            Newcomb's interests extended beyond his special
321 Text,  16|              of these bodies made at intervals of at least a considerable
322 Text,  19|           and the faintness of their intrinsic light, and not to any obstructing
323 Int      |                                      Introductory Note~
324 Text,  20|           stars, therefore, does not invalidate the general conclusions
325 Text,  19|         which this conclusion can be invalidated is by the possibility that
326 Int,  1  |             of America in mechanical invention and applied science, there
327 Text,  9 |           successful. But subsequent investigation always showed that he had
328 Text,  20|              outside of it. The wise investigator of to-day will leave to
329 Text,  19|       powerful telescopes. But their invisibility is due only to their distance
330 Text,  1 |               Essaying to do this, I invite the reader's attention to
331 Int,  3  |       complexity of the calculations involved are beyond the conception
332 Text,  16|             position of any one star involves a good deal of computation,
333 Text,  1 |      characteristic of our race. The issue is not whether we shall
334 Int,  2  |         mathematics and astronomy in Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore,
335 Text,  16|              of its bodies, has been journeying straightforward through
336 Text,  14|          times this distance, would, judging by the proper motions, have
337 Int,  4  |           the midst of his labors on July 11, 1909, he left a place
338 Text,  19|             he set them forth do not justify the conclusion, which was,
339 Text,  14|             as 150 miles per second. Knowing these proportions we have,
340 Text,  1 |             that the sphere of exact knowledge is small compared with the
341 Text,  6 |           seen. The reader doubtless knows that each of these objects
342 Text,  6 |             resolve compounds in our laboratories. These same elements are
343 Int,  3  |            the simple treatment of a large subject.~
344          | last
345 Text,  2 |      greatest pleasure and profit in late summer or autumn-winter
346          | later
347 Text,  9 |            Centauri, visible only in latitudes south of our middle ones,
348 Int,  3  |         beyond the conception of the layman; and the achievements which
349 Text,  7 |              which we have described leads at once to the conclusion
350 Int,  3  |              Newcomb honors from the learned of almost all civilized
351 Text,  2 |              the constellation Lyra, led by its beautiful blue Vega
352 Int,  4  |          labors on July 11, 1909, he left a place at the head of American
353 Int,  4  |             the general intellectual life of his time. When he died
354 Text,  9 |              away. One is allowed to look at that distant house through
355 Text,  9 |           house on top of a mountain looking out of a window one foot
356 Text,  19|             ray of light can ever be lost, no matter how far it may
357 Text,  14|          each rate of speed from the lowest up to a limit which is probably
358 Text,  2 |              not enter. The thinking man who does this under circumstances
359 Int,  2  |             of Wallace, Nova Scotia, March 12, 1835. His father, who
360 Int,  2  |         teaching a country school in Maryland. Two years later, a position
361 Int,  2  |            brought him to Cambridge, Mass., where he studied in Harvard
362 Text,  16|            systematic to furnish the material for anything like a precise
363 Int,  3  |            were in the department of mathematical astronomy, and were directed
364          | me
365 Int,  1  |              fertility of America in mechanical invention and applied science,
366 Text,  18|          from the most distant stars meets with no obstruction in reaching
367 Text,  1 |        cannot expect that the wisest men of our remotest posterity,
368 Text,  9 |            in latitudes south of our middle ones, is perhaps half as
369 Int,  4  |            time. When he died in the midst of his labors on July 11,
370 Text,  18|          with the light of countless millions of distant stars separately
371 Text,  3 |          system is now situated. The minute stars, individually far
372 Text,  9 |              showed that he had been mistaken, and that what he thought
373 Text,  19|        hypothetical. The theories of modern science converge towards
374 Text,  2 |         betaking himself on a clear, moonless evening, when he has no
375          | mostly
376 Int,  3  |          explanation of the observed movements of the heavenly bodies.
377 Text,  11|           within a distance found by multiplying 400,000 times the distance
378 Int,  1  |        regarded as among the leading nations. Her nearest approach to
379 Int,  2  |         position as computer on the "Nautical Almanac" brought him to
380 Int,  2  |     mathematics in the United States Navy. He remained in the government
381 Text,  10|         spheres of which we take the nearer one as the unit. The total
382 Text,  6 |          runs through the whole. The nebulae are composed, in part at
383 Text,  19|             probable conclusion is a negative one. We may say with certainty
384 Text,  2 |           and weary systems may find nerve rest at any summer resort;
385          | nevertheless
386          | next
387 Text,  9 |                                  The nineteenth century was well on its
388 Text,  20|   conclusions as to the existence or non-existence of any object outside of
389 Int      |                         Introductory Note~
390 Text,  5 |        constructed, we have first to notice the symmetry of the whole.
391 Int,  2  |              the village of Wallace, Nova Scotia, March 12, 1835.
392 Text,  10|              the difference of these numbers - that is, to 1, 7, 19,
393 Text,  10|           space. We cannot claim any numerical exactness for this idea,
394 Text,  20|              or non-existence of any object outside of it. The wise
395 Text,  6 |             knows that each of these objects is flying through space
396 Text,  9 |      atmosphere through which he was obliged to observe the star, or
397 Text,  16|          about 1750 at the Greenwich Observatory, by Bradley, then Astronomer
398 Text,  9 |              which he was obliged to observe the star, or upon the going
399 Text,  3 |            seen by the most ordinary observer to form a single structure.
400 Text,  19|             some way extinguished or obstructed in its passage through space.
401 Text,  19|      intrinsic light, and not to any obstructing agency.~
402 Text,  18|          distant stars meets with no obstruction in reaching us. The most
403 Text,  7 |              the extent of the space occupied must be proportional to
404 Text,  19|             is likely that more than one-half the stars which actually
405 Text,  7 |           feet in the whole field is one-tenth that of the number of grains
406 Text,  9 |             Cygnus had a parallax of one-third of a second. It may be interesting
407 Text,  16|           earth from one side of its orbit to the other. But we have
408 Text,  6 |      universe is in the nature of an organized system; and it is upon the
409 Int,  4  |              he wrote with vigor and originality on finance and economics,
410 Text,  6 |           very bright stars known as Orion stars - because there are
411          | others
412          | otherwise
413          | ourselves
414          | over
415 Text,  9 |              through one edge of the pane of glass and then through
416 Int,  3  | popularization; and the accompanying paper is a good example of the
417 Text,  16|                                  The parallaxes of which we have heretofore
418 Text,  2 |           arch of the Milky Way will pass near the zenith, and the
419 Text,  19|    extinguished or obstructed in its passage through space. A theory
420 Text,  19|             which our telescopes can penetrate. Up to this distance we
421 Text,  9 |      astronomer were brought to such perfection as to admit of the measurement.
422 Text,  13|             in the case of stars not plainly visible to the naked eye.
423 Int,  4  |           finance and economics, and played a leading part in the general
424 Text,  2 |            do this with the greatest pleasure and profit in late summer
425 Text,  4 |             of the universe, we have pointed out several features of
426 Text,  5 |           region anywhere around the poles of the Milky Way, we shall
427 Int,  3  |        subject which were capable of popularization; and the accompanying paper
428 Text,  1 |              information than we now possess. But the question is one
429 Text,  7 |         times as far as the nearest; possibly even farther than this.
430 Text,  1 |           wisest men of our remotest posterity, who can base their conclusions
431 Text,  1 |              which will refuse to be postponed so long as the propensity
432 Int,  3  |           nevertheless, an admirable power of clear exposition of those
433 Text,  19|             when armed with the most powerful telescopes. But their invisibility
434 Text,  8 |      difficult in the whole field of practical astronomy.~
435 Text,  4 |                               In the preceding essay on the structure of
436 Text,  16|         material for anything like a precise determination of the proper
437 Int,  1  |              Her nearest approach to preeminence has probably been in astronomy;
438 Text,  1 |          altogether, like Eve in the presence of Raphael; but whether
439 Text,  10|             general result up to the present time is that the number
440 Text,  2 |       contemplation of the spectacle presented by the starry heavens under
441 Text,  7 |         Milky Way. To illustrate the principle, suppose a farmer to sow
442 Text,  14|           the sun as its centre. The probabilities are in favor of the result
443 Text,  9 |            greater or less degree of probability. The work is going on from
444 Text,  7 |                     One of the great problems connected with the universe
445 Text,  2 |              beyond all that art can produce on earth, without producing
446 Text,  2 |            produce on earth, without producing any change apparent to ordinary
447 Text,  2 |            the greatest pleasure and profit in late summer or autumn-winter
448 Text,  1 |             postponed so long as the propensity to think of the possibilities
449 Text,  14|            per second. Knowing these proportions we have, by observation
450 Text,  14|              like the second we have proposed, having a radius 800,000
451 Text,  19|            theory to this effect was propounded by Struve nearly a century
452 Text,  20|            leave to them the task of putting the problem into a more
453 Text,  9 |              to give an idea of this quantity. Suppose one's self in a
454 Text,  1 |             is characteristic of our race. The issue is not whether
455 Text,  6 |         around the sun. These speeds range from the smallest limit
456 Text,  1 |          like Eve in the presence of Raphael; but whether in studying
457 Text,  18|             the number of the latter rapidly falls off when we make counts
458 Text,  14|             the stars move with each rate of speed from the lowest
459          | rather
460 Text,  18|       actually found that while this ratio of increase is true for
461 Text,  19|            ether of space, no single ray of light can ever be lost,
462 Text,  18|         meets with no obstruction in reaching us. The most conclusive
463 Int,  2  |             till he was retired as a rear admiral in 1897, having
464 Text,  19|             which we would otherwise receive from the more distant bodies
465          | recently
466 Text,  2 |             this subject in the most receptive spirit should begin his
467 Text,  9 |              a heliometer - the most refined instrument that has ever
468 Text,  16|            of computation, and if we reflect that, in order to attack
469 Text,  2 |            solar system in space, by reflecting that, during all human history,
470 Text,  1 |           question is one which will refuse to be postponed so long
471 Int,  1  |          science in which she can be regarded as among the leading nations.
472 Text,  10|              the sun from the earth. Regarding this as a unit, we imagine
473 Text,  4 |              a view of showing their relation to the question of the extent
474 Text,  2 |              mind can be so entirely relieved of the burden of all human
475 Text,  9 |        carefully measured must still remain quite doubtful.~
476 Int,  2  |           the United States Navy. He remained in the government service
477 Text,  16|           other. But we have already remarked that our solar system, with
478 Text,  1 |           that the wisest men of our remotest posterity, who can base
479 Text,  12|           distance which light would require 6,600 years to travel.~
480 Text,  5 |              the fact that a certain resemblance is found in any two opposite
481 Text,  1 |              without some measure of reserve. Such being the case, it
482 Text,  6 |              earth and into which we resolve compounds in our laboratories.
483 Text,  2 |             nerve rest at any summer resort; but I know of no way in
484 Text,  3 |          significance, it is in some respects unlike those parts of the
485 Int,  2  |       government service till he was retired as a rear admiral in 1897,
486 Text,  10|                           Let us now return to the idea of dividing
487 Text,  2 |             possible for the mind to rise so far above bodily conditions
488 Text,  2 |              on his back on bench or roof, and scan the whole vault
489 Text,  11|        sphere by extracting the cube root of this number, which gives
490 Text,  16|              other methods. Speaking roughly, we have reason, from the
491 Text,  8 |              its vast annual circuit round the sun, the direction of
492 Text,  16|             Bradley, then Astronomer Royal of England. But out of 3,
493 Text,  20|         bounded. It has uniformities running through its vast extent.
494 Text,  6 |              enforce the unity which runs through the whole. The nebulae
495 Text,  16|             problem in question in a satisfactory way, we should have observations
496 Text,  14|        estimates may be summed up by saying that there is a certain
497 Text,  2 |           back on bench or roof, and scan the whole vault of heaven
498 Text,  2 |     attention is concentrated on the scene the thousands of stars on
499 Int,  2  |          find him teaching a country school in Maryland. Two years later,
500 Text,  1 |              the limits set by sound scientific reasoning. Essaying to do