INTRODUCTION 



" Planetary Evolution,'* Fiske undertakes, In 

 chapter v., to bring the processes of inorganic 

 evolution into their natural place in the expo- 

 sition of the Synthetic Philosophy. The ac- 

 count of the nebular hypothesis which follows 

 is not a mere exposition of Spencer's view. 

 With regard to one notable matter, that of the 

 origin of the asteroids, Fiske opposes Spencer, 

 and undertakes, at some length, to present a 

 special hypothesis of his own.^ It is no part 

 of my present office to discuss the merits of 

 this hypothesis. The student of Fiske's chap- 

 ter will naturally desire more light, both upon 

 the earlier history and the recent fortunes of the 

 Kantian and Laplacean hypotheses about the 

 origin of planetary systems. He will find a 

 good recent bibliography in the Introduction 

 to Professor W. Hastie's recent book, " Kant's 

 Cosmogony." ^ In addition to the statement 

 of the nebular hypothesis in its general appli- 

 cation to the stellar and solar systems, Fiske, 



with notes later added, 1 55-181) ; and further the essays on 

 ** The Constitution of the Sun" (id. i. 182-191) and on 

 ** Illogical Geology" (id. i. 192-240). 



^ Spencer elaborates and defends his view in the later notes, 

 appended to the essay on the nebular hypothesis, and pub- 

 lished in the final edition, in 1890. 



^ Glasgow, 1900. See especially the second section of 

 Professor Hastie's Introduction, pp. xviii-xxviii. 



Ivii 



