116 FROM NEBULA TO NEBULA 



If it does, and if thisbethe significance the term possesses 

 in the consciousness of scientists in general, the sooner it 

 is revised the better. With these reflections in mind, 

 then, let us see if we cannot make shift to resurrect the 

 law of equilibrium out of the tomb Newton prepared for it, 

 and utilize it to good purpose in the working out of that 

 greatest of all physical problems, the structure of the 

 universe. 



NEWTON'S VACUUM-TUBE EXPERIMENT 



In the first place, let it be remembered that this ex- 

 periment was designed and undertaken with but one ob- 

 ject in view, namely, to prove up Newton's rashly-con- 

 ceived hypothesis regarding the cause of the tides. Had 

 subsequent investigations of the tidal phenomena borne 

 out the hypothesis, the fact would have constituted an all 

 but conclusive confirmation of the basic lesson drawn 

 from the experiment. Far from this being the case, how- 

 ever, we are informed by such lofty authorities as Dar- 

 win, Kelvin and Young Newtonians all par excellence 

 that the tidal hypothesis is "utterly unsatisfactory in re- 

 gard to what actually takes place," and that "it is nearly 

 as much wrong as possible. ' ' If there is any merit in the 

 logic of facts, then, it follows that the hypothesis, having 

 been weighed in the balance of Nature and found wanting, 

 every link in the chain of deduction is forcibly brought 

 under suspicion. The staple link in this chain is the 

 vacuum-tube experiment ; why, then, should its soundness 

 be taken for granted? In view of the disastrous outcome, 

 is not the probability precisely the reverse ! 



In the next place let me ask, What is the physical or 

 causal relationship, if any, subsisting between the sur- 

 rounding medium and the equilibristic tendency of any 

 object therein contained? Is there, perhaps, some secret 

 virtue in the atmosphere that, passing into the object, im- 

 parts to it the power or imposes upon it the obligation to 

 lower its center of gravity? And, conversely, does the 

 withdrawal of the air from the receiver deprive it, pro 

 tanto, of that power or absolve it from that obligation? 



