An original theory or new hypothesis of the universe: $b founded upon the laws of nature, and solving by mathematical principles the general phænomena of the visible creation; and particularly the via lactea ... — John Shaqi
An original theory or new hypothesis of the universe: $b founded upon the laws of nature, and solving by mathematical principles the general phænomena of the visible creation; and particularly the via lactea ...Wright, Thomas
Philosophy
An original theory or new hypothesis of the universe: $b founded upon the laws of nature, and solving by mathematical principles the general phænomena of the visible creation; and particularly the via lactea ...
Wright, Thomas
Astronomy -- Early works to 1800
But we are under a kind of Necessity to believe them either Suns or
Planets, that is either dark or light Bodies; and since I have shewn
the Improbability; nay, I may venture to say, the Impossibility of
their being the first, it is natural sure to conclude, that they must
be of the last Sort; and I am persuaded, if you but once consider how
ridiculous it is to imagine so vast a Number of Bodies, all rolling
round a Number of invisible Suns, which must otherwise be the Case,
since they are seen on all Sides of ours, and cannot possibly be
enlightened by him, or any, how all of them, by any one else, you
cannot possibly have any sort of Difficulty in this Determination:
But that no Arguments may be wanting to enforce your Belief of what
is here concluded, it will not be amiss to put you in Mind of an
optical Experiment or two, which cannot fail of convincing you of
the vast Probability of what is here asserted of them; and next to a
moral Certainty, demonstrate the Truth of what so many of the best
Astronomers have advanced, as before namely, that the Stars are all, or
most of them, Suns like ours.
Place any concave Lense before your Eye, and you will find all visible
Objects will appear through it, as removed to a much greater Distance
than they really are at, and reciprocally as much diminished. Now, if
you look upon one of these Glasses of a proper Concavity, opposed to
the Sun or Moon, you will respectively have the Appearance of a real
Star or Planet, the first exhibited by the Body of the Sun, the other
by the Moon, and either more or less diminished in Proportion to the
Surface of the Sphere the Glass is ground to.
For Example, a double Concave, or Glass of a negative Focus, ground to
a Sphere of about three Inches Diameter, will if opposed to the Sun's
Disk at a proper Distance from the Eye, help you to a very good Idea
how the Sun appears to the Planet _Jupiter_; and if a proper Regard be
had to the Distance of the Planet _Saturn_, a Lense still more concave
may be formed to give a just Idea of the Sun's Appearance to _Saturn_.
Again, one much more concave than the former, proportioned to the Orbit
of _Mars_, will naturally exhibit the solar Body, as seen from that
Planet.
To the Planet _Venus_ and _Mercury_, the Sun appearing much larger
than to us at the Earth, to have any tolerable Notion of his varied
Phænomena to them, it will be necessary to procure Glasses of a
suitable Convexity, ground to reciprocal Concaves, which may easily be
done to any Focus, so as to shew how the Sun, naturally appears to the
Inhabitants of those two Planets.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account