We cannot tell
exactly, but get there we must if the laws of nature and the laws
of motion continue as they are. To attain to the stars was the
seemingly vain wish of an ancient philosopher, but the whole human
race is, in a certain sense, realizing this wish as rapidly as a
speed of ten miles a second can bring it about.
I have called attention to this motion because it may, in the not
distant future, afford the means of approximating to a solution of
the problem already mentioned--that of the extent of the universe.
Notwithstanding the success of astronomers during the present
century in measuring the parallax of a number of stars, the most
recent investigations show that there are very few, perhaps hardly
more than a score, of stars of which the parallax, and therefore
the distance, has been determined with any approach to certainty.
Many parallaxes determined about the middle of the nineteenth
century have had to disappear before the powerful tests applied by
measures with the heliometer; others have been greatly reduced and
the distances of the stars increased in proportion. So far as
measurement goes, we can only say of the distances of all the
stars, except the few whose parallaxes have been determined, that
they are immeasurable.
Pages:
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353