52 THE FAIRY-LAND OF SCIENCE. 
do they not seem to you worth studying and worth 
thinking about, as we look at the beautiful results of 
their work ? The ancient Greeks worshipped the sun, 
and condemned to death one of their greatest phi- 
losophers, named Anaxagoras, because he denied that 
it was a god. We can scarcely wonder at this when 
we see what the sun does for our world ; but we know 
that it is a huge globe made of gases and fiery matter, 
and not a god. We are grateful for the sun instead 
of to him, and surely we shall look at him with new- 
interest, now that we can picture his tiny messengers, 
the sunbeams, flitting over all space, falling upon our 
earth, giving us light to see with, and beautiful colours 
to enjoy, warming the air and the earth, making the 
refreshing rain, and, in a word, filling the world with 
life and gladness. 
