PHYSICAL BACKGROUND OF EVOLUTION 21 



From an evolutionary point of view this Hoyle-Lyttle 

 universe, with its eternal synthesis and annihilation of mat- 

 ter, is attractive. New configurations in the space-time con- 

 tinuum are constantly appearing: new galaxies, new stars, 

 new planets, new life. Also, this theory escapes, at least in 

 part, the philosophical difficulty of starting the universe off 

 under conditions totally different from those prevailing at 

 present. To some, however, all the theories so far discussed 

 will be unsatisfactory because of their space and time limita- 

 tions. 



Perhaps it is necessary to turn back to Giordano Bruno 

 for a more satisfactory philosophical concept— to a timeless, 

 infinite universe containing an endless number of worlds. 

 Modernized, the Bruno concept appears as a hierarchic 

 structure of galaxies and supergalaxies. This hierarchic con- 

 cept is credited by E. Finlay-Freundlich to Lambert who 

 thought that matter is combined and distributed, first to 

 form galaxies, then the galaxies are combined to form super- 

 galaxies, then super-supergalaxies, and so on to infinity. Al- 

 though no one seems to have developed this concept beyond 

 a general initial statement, it has intriguing possibilities. It 

 is said that an infinite amount of matter in an infinite space 

 would show the required finite values of gravitational forces 

 (Einstein's equations) in each element of volume. Finlay- 

 Freundlich points out that such a universe would be static 

 as far as the large-scale redistribution of matter is con- 

 cerned; and he argues that a hierarchic universe is an ex- 

 panding universe, since the transition to a space of infinite 

 volume has to be done by exhausting an infinite number of 

 concentric shells all centered around the observer. It would 

 not be surprising if the 200-inch telescope at Palomar would 

 bring out a definite picture of supergalaxies. 



O. L. Reiser, with the help of B. G. H. Vanderjagt, has 

 worked out a cosmos which he believes is free from both 

 time and space difficulties, one in which the hierarchic idea 

 of Lambert would be acceptable. His concept gives us a 



