The failure of the theory 



of 

 Cosmic Gravitation. 



Our school books define the law of gravitation as fol- 

 lows : a free body i. e. a body not confined by any con- 

 ditions, having received an impetus from the push of any 

 momentary force will continue moving in the given direc- 

 tion in one straight line and at the same rate of move- 

 ment, by the law of inertia; if however the moving 

 force acts continuously the rate of movement will vary, 

 or the direction will deviate, or both together. By way 

 of proof let us divide some unit of time, say a second, 

 into tiny fractions which we may call, for convenience r 

 "elements" of time. The moving force can now be con- 

 sidered as a succession of momentary forces, impelling- 

 the body in question at the beginning of every element, 

 though we must assume that in the intervals between 

 each element the moving force is inactive. The hypo- 

 thesis is of course inconsistent with the conception 

 of an absolutely continuous force, but the more minute 

 the element of time the more it will approximate to the 

 truth, and, finally, will adequately express the phenome- 

 non we are considering when the fractional element is 

 infinitesimal. 



If a free body move in a right line, but at a varying 

 rate, or at a uniform rate but in a curved line, or in a 

 curved line and at a varying rate, it lies under the in- 

 fluence of a continuous force. The planets and comets 



