194 FROM NEBULA TO NEBULA 



axial rotations of the sun and Jupiter, with their pecul- 

 iar problem of equatorial acceleration, and the rotations 

 of the other planets in general, these must be postponed 

 to a later chapter. 



THE TURNING FORCE COMPUTED 



Before leaving the subject, it may be well to ascer- 

 tain the degree of this buoyancy, or, if you prefer, the 

 pressure of this brake. 



The sun illumines only one-half of our planet at a 

 time, and on that half he does not shine all over verti- 

 cally, but mostly obliquely. Accordingly, in estimating 

 his tidal action we may average it up as affecting only 

 one-fourth of the ocean area at one time, but this much 

 with maximum effect. This area is given by Murray at 

 140,000,000 square miles, of which the fourth part is 

 35,000,000 square miles. A sheet of sea water (63 

 pounds to the cubic foot) 7.8 feet in depth (the solar 

 4 Hide"), extending over this immense expanse would 

 weigh 240,000,000 million tons, an amount significantly 

 identical with my former estimate of the intensity of the 

 earth's attraction upon the moon. Converting this into 

 horse-power, according to our chosen formula, it becomes 

 quite evident that the earth is not turning on its axis 

 simply "because it cannot stop a motion that never was 

 started ", but because Nature intelligently supplies a 

 quarter-quadrillion-Jiorse-poiver engine to do the work. 

 This, too, in addition to the cooperation of the Prime 

 Eesultant, pulling the earth along in her spiral orbit. 



THE MOON'S RELATION TO THE TIDES 



Although Newton estimated the ratio of the solar 

 and lunar tides as 1 to 4, modern computation places it 

 at 1 to 2.25. "Were either of these ratios true, it is hard 

 to understand why no trace of a solar tide has ever been 

 detected. To say that the lesser merges in the greater, 

 even though the circumstances for their separate exist- 

 ence are at times most favorable, is only a subterfuge. 



