A HISTORY OF SCIENCE 



place as terrestrial weather. They were living in dis- 

 tant worlds. 



The results? What could they be? Such enthusi- 

 asm would move mountains. But, after all, the mov- 

 ing of mountains seems a liliputian task compared 

 with what Herschel really did with those wonderful 

 telescopes. He moved worlds, stars, a universe- 

 even, if you please, a galaxy of universes; at least he 

 proved that they move, which seems scarcely less won- 

 derful ; and he expanded the cosmos, as man conceives 

 it, to thousands of times the dimensions it had before. 

 As a mere beginning, he doubled the diameter of the 

 solar system by observing the great outlying planet 

 which we now call Uranus, but which he christened 

 Georgium Sidus, in honor of his sovereign, and which 

 his French contemporaries, not relishing that name, 

 preferred to call Herschel. 



This discovery was but a trifle compared with what 

 Herschel did later on, but it gave him world-wide repu- 

 tation none the less. Comets and moons aside, this 

 was the first addition to the solar system that had been 

 made within historic times, and it created a veritable 

 furor of popular interest and enthusiasm. Incidentally 

 King George was flattered at having a world named 

 after him, and he smiled on the astronomer, and came 

 with his court to have a look at his namesake. The 

 inspection was highly satisfactory; and presently the 

 royal favor enabled the astronomer to escape the 

 thraldom of teaching music and to devote his entire 

 time to the more congenial task of star-gazing. 



Thus relieved from the burden of mundane em- 

 barrassments, he turned with fresh enthusiasm to the 



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