FOUNDATIONS OF THE UNIVERSE

October 29, 2009 | Posted by maneerat

THE WORLD OF ATOMS

Most people have heard of the oriental race which puzzled over the foundations of the universe, and decided that it must be supported on the back of a giant elephant. But the elephant? They put it on the back of a monstrous tortoise, and there they let the matter end. If every animal in nature had been called upon, they would have been no nearer a foundation. Most ancient peoples, indeed, made no effort to find a foundation. The universe was a very compact little structure, mainly composed of the earth and the great canopy over the earth which they called the sky. They left it, as a whole, floating in nothing. And in this the ancients were wiser than they knew. Things do not fall down unless they are pulled down by that mysterious force which we call gravitation. The earth, it is true, is pulled by the sun, and would fall into it; but the earth escapes this fiery fate by circulating at great speed round the sun. The stars pull each other; but it has already been explained that they meet this by travelling rapidly in gigantic orbits. Yet we do, in a new sense of the word, need foundations of the universe. Our mind craves for some explanation of the matter out of which the universe is made. For this explanation we turn to modern Physics and Chemistry. Both these sciences study, under different aspects, matter and energy; and between them they have put together a conception of the fundamental nature of things which marks an epoch in the history of human thought.

Categories: THE OUTLINE OF SCIENCE | Tags: Ancient Peoples, Ancients, Asia Minor, Bricks, Canopy, Fiery Fate, Fundamental Nature, Giant Elephant, Gravitation, Greeks, Matter And Energy, Minute Particles, Modern Physics, Mysterious Force, Nature Of Matter, Nature Of Things, Orbits, Physics And Chemistry, Tortoise, Word Need | No Comments »