The Evolution of Worlds
THE EVOLUTION OF
WORLDS
BY
PERCIVAL LOWELL, A.B., LL.D.
AUTHOR Of "MARS AND ITS CANALS," "MARS AS THE
ABODE OF LIFE," ETC.
DIRECTOR OF THE OBSERVATORY AT FLAGSTAFF, ARIZONA; NON-RESIDENT PROFESSOR
OF ASTRONOMY AT THE MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY; FELLOW OF
THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF ARTS AND SCIENCES; MEMBRE DE LA SOCIÉTÉ
ASTRONOMIQUE DE FRANCE; MEMBER OF THE ASTRONOMICAL AND ASTRO-
PHYSICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA; MITGLIED DER ASTRONOMISCHE GE-
SELLSCHAFT; MEMBRE DE LA SOCIÉTÉ BELGE D'ASTRONOMIE;
HONORARY MEMBER OF THE SOCIEDAD ASTRONOMICA DE MEX-
ICO; JANSSEN MEDALLIST OF THE SOCIÉTÉ ASTRONOMIQUE DE
FRANCE, 1904, FOR RESEARCHES ON MARS; MEDALLIST
OF THE SOCIEDAD ASTRONOMICA DE MEXICO
FOR STUDIES ON MARS, 1908
ILLUSTRATED
New York
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
1910
All rights reserved
Copyright, 1909,
By THE MACMILLAN COMPANY.
Set up and electrotyped. Published December, 1909. Reprinted
May, 1910
Norwood Press
J. S. Cushing Co.—Berwick & Smith Co.
Norwood, Mass., U.S.A.
To
THE PRESIDENT OF THE MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE
OF TECHNOLOGY
TO MY COLLEAGUES THERE
AND TO ITS STUDENT BODY
TO WHOSE INTEREST AND ATTENTION THESE
LECTURES ARE INDEBTED
THEY ARE APPRECIATIVELY INSCRIBED
"Si je n'étais pas devenu général en chef et 1'instrument du sort d'un grand people, j'aurais couru les bureaux et les salons pour me mettre dans la dépendance de qui que ce fût, en qualité de ministre ou d'ambassadeur? Non, non! je me serais jeté dans l'étude des sciences exactes. J'aurais fait mon chemin dans la route des Galilée, des Newton. Et puisque j'ai réussi constamment dans mes grandes entreprises, eh bien, je me serais hautement distingué aussi par des travaux scientifiques. J'aurais laissé le souvenir de belles découvertes. Aucune autre gloire n'aurait pu tenter mon ambition."
—Napoleon iER, quoted by Arago.
The substance of the following pages was written and presented in a university course of lectures before the Massachusetts Institute of Technology—in February and March of this year. The kind interest with which the lectures were received, not only by the students and professional bodies, but by the public, was followed by an immediate request from The Macmillan Company to issue them in book form, and as such they now appear.
PERCIVAL LOWELL.
CONTENTS
I. | 1 |
II. | 31 |
III. | 58 |
IV. | 94 |
V. | 127 |
VI. | 155 |
VII. | 182 |
VIII. | 213 |
NOTES
1. | 241 |
2. | 243 |
3. | 243 |
4. | 244 |
5. | 245 |
6. | 250 |
7. | 251 |
Index | 253 |
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PLATES
I. | Saturn |
Frontispiece |
II. | The Moving Nebula surrounding Nova Persei, 1901–1902 |
14 |
III. | Representative Stellar Spectra |
24 |
IV. | Spectra of the Major Planets |
52 |
V. | Venus, 1896-1897 |
82 |
VI. | Asteroids: Major Axes of Orbits |
98 |
VII. | Saturn—A Drawing showing Agglomerations |
108 |
VIII. | Spectrogram of Jupiter, Moon Comparison |
152 |
IX. | Spectrogram showing Water-vapor in Atmosphere of Mars |
176 |
X. | Tree Fern |
160 |
XI. | Ten Views of Mercury, showing Effect of Libration |
222 |
XII. | Spectrogram of Saturn |
232 |
CUTS APPEARING IN TEXT
Algol and its Dark Companion |
4 |
Nova Persei |
11 |
Spectrum of Nova Persei |
12 |
The Moving Nebula surrounding Nova Persei, 1901 |
13 |
Great Nebula in Orion |
17 |
Great Nebula in Andromeda |
18 |
Nebula M. 100 Comæ |
19 |
Nebula ♅ I. 226 Ursæ Majoris |
20 |
Nebula ♅ V. 24 Comæ. Showing Globular Structure |
21 |
Nebula M. 101 Ursæ Majoris |
23 |
The Radiant of a Meteoric Shower |
37 |
Diagram explaining Proportionate Visibility of Meteors |
38 |
The Mart Iron |
41 |
Section of Meteorite showing Widmannstättian Lines |
42 |
Meteorite, Toluca |
43 |
Nebula ♅ V. 14 Cygni |
45 |
Nebula N.G.C. 1499 Persei |
46 |
Nebula N.G.C. 6960 in Cygnus |
47 |
Nebula M. 51 Canum Venaticorum |
48 |
Orbits of the Inner Planets |
59 |
Sulla Rotazione di Mercurio.—Di G. V. Schiaparelli |
64 |
Map of Mercury. Lowell |
69 |
Venus. October, 1896–March, 1897 |
78 |
Venus. April 12, 1909 |
79 |
Diagram: Convection Currents in Atmosphere of Venus |
81 |
Diagram: Shift in Central Barometric Depression |
81 |
Spectrogram of Venus, showing its Long Day |
87 |
Spectrogram of Jupiter, giving the Length of its Day by the Tilt of its Spectral Lines |
89 |
Orbits of the Outer Planets |
95 |
Drawing of Jupiter showing its Ellipticity |
103 |
Two Drawings of Jupiter and its Wisps |
105 |
Photograph of Jupiter, 1909 |
107 |
Diagram of Saturn's Rings |
113 |
The Tores of Saturn |
114 |
Chart showing increasing Tilts of the Major Planets |
131 |
Orbital Tilts and Eccentricities of Satellites |
133 |
Masses of Planets and Satellites |
136 |
Two Drawings of Jupiter and its "Great Red Spot" |
164 |
Sun Spots |
165 |
Photograph of a Sun Spot |
166 |
The Volcano Colima, Mexico, March 24, 1903 |
169 |
Jukes Butte, a Denuded Laccolith, as seen from the Northwest |
170 |
Ideal Section of a Laccolith |
170 |
Earth as seen from above.—Photographed at an Altitude of 5500 Feet |
183 |
Tracks of Sauropus Primævus |
188 |
Adventures of a Heat Ray |
193 |
Polar Caps of Mars at their Maxima and Minima |
198 |
Glacial Map of Eurasia |
200 |
Map showing the Glaciated Area of North America |
201 |
Photograph of the Moon |
205 |
Petrified Bridge, Third Petrified Forest, near Adamana, Arizona |
210 |
Three Views of Venus, showing Agreement at Different Distances |
220 |
Diagram of Libration in Longitude due to Rotation |
222 |
Moon,—Full and Half |
225 |
Diagram illustrating Molecular Motion in a Gas |
227 |
Distribution of Molecular Velocities in a Gas |
229 |
This work was published before January 1, 1929, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.
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