THE SUN 



FOR most human beings the sun is still a " globe 

 of fire/' and even the most learned scientist has 

 little to add concerning it. However, compared 

 with the ignorance of past ages our own ignorance 

 appears less. Anaxagoras attributed to the sun 

 the size of the Peloponnesus ; Anaximander con- 

 sidered it to be a circle twenty-eight times 

 greater than the earth and having a central 

 opening through which its rays pass. Xeno- 

 phanes believed the sun to be formed by fiery 

 clouds, whereas Parmenides thought that it 

 fed on the dry vapours of the Milky Way; 

 Cleanthes supposed it to be nourished by the 

 exhalations rising from the earth. Moreover, 

 they all considered the light and heat of the sun 

 and stars to be incorruptible, that is to say of a 

 far superior essence to the heat and light which we 

 produce on the earth. We can afford to smile 

 to-day at these chimeras, but it is of more use to 

 learn how science has enabled us to get rid of 



