TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE Italic text is denoted by _underscores_. Footnote anchors are denoted by [number], and the footnotes have been placed at the end of each chapter. A superscript is denoted by ^x, for example Pi^2 or 3^h. A subscript is denoted by _{x}, for example L_{2}. Basic fractions are displayed as ½ ⅓ ¼ etc; other fractions are shown in the form a/b, for example 1/200 or 95/729. A few fractions were of the form a-b in the original book; these have been changed to a/b for consistency. Some minor changes to the text are noted at the end of the book. [Illustration: The Zodiacal Light] THE STORY OF THE UNIVERSE _Told by Great Scientists and Popular Authors_ COLLECTED AND EDITED _By_ ESTHER SINGLETON Author of “Turrets, Towers and Temples,” “Wonders of Nature,” “The World’s Great Events,” “Famous Paintings,” Translator of Lavignac’s “Music Dramas of Richard Wagner” _FULLY ILLUSTRATED_ VOLUME I THE STARRY SKIES P. F. COLLIER AND SON NEW YORK COPYRIGHT 1905 BY P. F. COLLIER & SON PREFACE In the following pages I have endeavored to present a comprehensive and general view of the material side of the universe. Instead of trying myself to tell the story of the universe, I have gone to the works of acknowledged weight and authority in this line of research and selected from them extracts of a popular character, especially those that are entertaining as well as merely instructive. The average reader is frequently repelled from the study of the sciences by the dry treatment adopted by those who try to instruct him. He cares little for laws, theories, or affinities; and he can not help being bored by attempts to make him understand classifications with their long lists of words manufactured from the names of modern celebrities or non-entities and roots from dead languages. I have therefore kept constantly in mind the person who seeks entertaining knowledge, and not the scientific specialist. I have tried to avoid all technicalities wherever possible.