THE NEBULAR HYPOTHESIS 185 



the zero of space, and began to build with the chilled 

 embers the burning sun and molten worlds. New 

 phrases, such as "kinetic energy ", "energy of position," 

 etc., sprang up, which, interpreted, mean, that by the mere 

 coming together of the particles of the nebula under the 

 constraining influence of gravity, heat was produced by 

 their mechanical impacts sufficient to melt the substance 

 of the forming planets, and to endow the sun with a sup- 

 ply of caloric capable of lasting that prodigal milliards 

 of years. Thus science rested in smug content until 

 Helmholtz, the great physicist, fortified the theory with 

 his idea of a slowly contracting sun, so that certain 

 sleepers who had given some signs of waking were lulled 

 into still deeper slumber. 



Of late, however, it has begun to dawn upon scien- 

 tists that their theories involve the ultimate destruction 

 of the universe by the dissipation of all heat, when the 

 last impact shall have sounded, and all the worlds shall 

 finally have been gathered into a single inert mass. In 

 the succeeding chapters I shall endeavor to disprove this 

 dismal forecast. 



In order to convey to the reader, in as concrete and 

 graphic form as possible, the current scientific notion of 

 how the earth's internal heat came about, as well as the 

 heat of the sun and the major planets, let us imagine the 

 substance of the sun divided into flakes, say a hundred to 

 each cubic-inch of matter. It is a pet idea of modern 

 science that the farther apart the particles of matter are, 

 the greater their "energy of position" ; so let us meet her 

 views, as nearly as w^e know how, by picturing the nebular 

 field divided into cubical chambers 100 feet each way, and 

 allot to each chamber one such flake its full share. 

 Now, although Laplace assumed these flakes (of course 

 he did not use this particular illustration) to be incan- 

 descent, modern science magnanimously admits they 

 could not have been so, exposed as they were to the ab- 

 solute zero of space. But, says science instead, these 

 flakes immediately began to attract each othei and to 

 cause their mutual collision with such force as not only to 

 keep themselves and their neighbors warm, but to store 



