The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Outline of Science, Vol. 1 (of 4), byJ. Arthur Thomson

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Title: The Outline of Science, Vol. 1 (of 4) A Plain Story Simply Told

Author: J. Arthur Thomson

Release Date: January 22, 2007 [EBook #20417]

Language: English

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OUTLINE OF SCIENCE ***

Produced by Brian Janes, Leonard Johnson and the OnlineDistributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net

[Illustration: THE GREAT SCARLET SOLAR PROMINENCES, WHICH ARE SUCH ANOTABLE FEATURE OF THE SOLAR PHENOMENA, ARE IMMENSE OUTBURSTS OF FLAMINGHYDROGEN RISING SOMETIMES TO A HEIGHT OF 500,000 MILES]

THEOUTLINE OF SCIENCE

A PLAIN STORY SIMPLY TOLD

EDITED BYJ. ARTHUR THOMSONREGIUS PROFESSOR OF NATURAL HISTORY IN THEUNIVERSITY OF ABERDEEN

WITH OVER 800 ILLUSTRATIONSOF WHICH ABOUT 40 ARE IN COLOUR

IN FOUR VOLUMES

G. P. PUTNAM’S SONSNEW YORK AND LONDONThe Knickerbocker press

Copyright, 1922byG. P. Putnam’s Sons

_First Printing April, 1922Second Printing April, 1922Third Printing April, 1922Fourth Printing April, 1922Fifth Printing June, 1922Sixth Printing June, 1922Seventh Printing June, 1922Eighth Printing June, 1922Ninth Printing August, 1922Tenth Printing September, 1922Eleventh Printing Sept., 1922Twelfth Printing, May, 1924_

Made in the United States of America

INTRODUCTORY NOTE

By Professor J. Arthur Thomson

Was it not the great philosopher and mathematician Leibnitz who saidthat the more knowledge advances the more it becomes possible tocondense it into little books? Now this “Outline of Science” iscertainly not a little book, and yet it illustrates part of the meaningof Leibnitz’s wise saying. For here within reasonable compass there is alibrary of little books–an outline of many sciences.

It will be profitable to the student in proportion to the discriminationwith which it is used. For it is not in the least meant to be of thenature of an Encyclopædia, giving condensed and comprehensive articleswith a big full stop at the end of each. Nor is it a collection of”primers,” beginning at the very beginning of each subject and workingmethodically onwards. That is not the idea.

What then is the aim of this book? It is to give the intelligentstudent-citizen, otherwise called “the man in the street,” a bunch ofintellectual keys by which to open doors which have been hitherto shutto him, partly because he got no glimpse of the treasures behind thedoors, and partly because the portals were made forbidding by anunnecessary display of technicalities. Laying aside conventional modesof treatment and seeking rather to open up the subject as one might on awalk with a friend, the work offers the student what might be calledinformal introductions to the various departments of knowledge. To putit in another way, the articles are meant to be clues which the readermay follow till he has left his starting point very far behind. Perhapswhen he has gone far on his own he will not be ungrateful to the simplebook of “instructions to travellers” which this “Outline of Science” isintended to be. The simple “bibliographies” appended to the variousarticles will be enough to indicate “first books.” Each article is meantto be an invitation to an intellectual adventure, and the short lists ofbooks are merely finger-posts for the beginning of the journey.

We confess to being greatly encouraged by the reception that has beengiven to the English serial issue of “The Outline of Science.” It hasbeen very hearty–we might almost say enthusiastic. For we agree withProfessor John Dewey, that “the future of our civilisation depends uponthe widening spread and deepening hold of the scientific habit of mind.”And we hope that this is what “The Outline of Science” makes for.Information is all to the good; interesting information is better still;but best of all is the education of the scientific habit of mind.Another modern philosopher, Professor L. T. Hobhouse, has declared thatthe evolutionist’s mundane goal is “the mastery by the human mind of theconditions, internal as well as external, of its life and growth.” Underthe influence of this conviction “The Outline of Science” has beenwritten. For life is not for science, but science for life. And evenmore than science, to our way of thinking, is the individual developmentof the scientific way of looking at things. Science is our legacy; wemust use it if it is to be our very own.

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION 3

I. THE ROMANCE OF THE HEAVENS 7

The scale of the universe–The solar system–Regions of the sun–The surface of the sun–Measuring the speed of light–Is the sun dying?–The planets–Venus–Is there life on Mars?–Jupiter and Saturn–The moon–The mountains of the moon–Meteors and comets–Millions of meteorites–A great comet–The stellar universe–The evolution of stars–The age of stars–The nebular theory–Spiral nebulæ–The birth and death of stars–The shape of our universe–Astronomical instruments.

II. THE STORY OF EVOLUTION 53

The beginning of the earth–Making a home for life–The first living creatures–The first plants–The first animals–Beginnings of bodies–Evolution of sex–Beginning of natural death–Procession of life through the ages–Evolution of land animals–The flying dragons–The first known bird–Evidences of evolution–Factors in evolution.

III. ADAPTATIONS TO ENVIRONMENT 113

The shore of the sea–The open sea–The deep sea–The fresh waters–The dry land–The air.

IV. THE STRUGGLE FOR EXISTENCE 135

Animal and bird mimicry and disguise–Other kinds of elusiveness.

V. THE ASCENT OF MAN 153

Anatomical proof of man’s relationship with a Simian stock–Physiological proof–Embryological proof–Man’s pedigree–Man’s arboreal apprenticeship–Tentative men–Primitive men–Races of mankind–Steps in human evolution–Factors in human progress.

VI. EVOLUTION GOING ON 183

Evolutionary prospect for man–The fountain of change; variability–Evolution of plants–Romance of wheat–Changes in animal life–Story of the salmon–Forming new habits–Experiments in locomotion; new devices.

VII. THE DAWN OF MIND 205

A caution in regard to instinct–A useful law–Senses of fishes–The mind of a minnow–The mind and senses of amphibians–The reptilian mind–Mind in birds–Intelligence co-operating with instinct–The mind of the mammal–Instinctive aptitudes–Power of association–Why is there not more intelligence?–The mind of monkeys–Activity for activity’s sake–Imitation–The mind of man–Body and mind.

VIII. FOUNDATIONS OF THE UNIVERSE 243

The world of atoms–The energy of atoms–The discovery of X-rays–The discovery of radium–The discovery of the electron–The electron theory–The structure of the atom–The new view of matter–Other new views–The nature of electricity–Electric current–The dynamo–Magnetism–Ether and waves–Light–What the blue “sky” means–Light without heat–Forms of energy–What heat is–Substitutes for coal–Dissipation of energy–What a uniform temperature would mean–Matter, ether, and Einstein–The tides–Origin of the moon–The earth slowing down–The day becoming longer.

ILLUSTRATIONS

FACING PAGE

THE GREAT SCARLET SOLAR PROMINENCES, WHICH ARE SUCH A NOTABLE FEATURE OF THE SOLAR PHENOMENA, ARE IMMENSE OUTBURSTS OF FLAMING HYDROGEN RISING SOMETIMES TO A HEIGHT OF 500,000 MILES _Coloured Frontispiece_

LAPLACE 10

PROFESSOR J. C. ADAMS 10 Photo: Royal Astronomical Society.

PROFESSOR EDDINGTON OF CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY 10 Photo: Elliot & Fry, Ltd.

THE PLANETS, SHOWING THEIR RELATIVE DISTANCES AND DIMENSIONS 11

THE MILKY WAY 14 Photo: Harvard College Observatory.

THE MOON ENTERING THE SHADOW CAST BY THE EARTH 14

THE GREAT NEBULA IN ANDROMEDA, MESSIER 31 15 From a photograph taken at the Yerkes Observatory.

DIAGRAM SHOWING THE MAIN LAYERS OF THE SUN 18

SOLAR PROMINENCES SEEN AT TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE, MAY 29, 1919. TAKEN AT SOBRAL, BRAZIL 18 Photo: Royal Observatory, Greenwich.

THE VISIBLE SURFACE OF THE SUN 19 Photo: Mount Wilson Observatory.

THE SUN PHOTOGRAPHED IN THE LIGHT OF GLOWING HYDROGEN 19 Photo: Mount Wilson Observatory.

THE AURORA BOREALIS (_Coloured Illustration_) 20 Reproduced from _The Forces of Nature_ (Messrs. Macmillan)

THE GREAT SUN-SPOT OF JULY 17, 1905 22 Yerkes Observatory.

SOLAR PROMINENCES 22 From photographs taken at the Yerkes Observatory.

MARS, OCTOBER 5, 1909 23 Photo: Mount Wilson Observatory.

JUPITER 23

SATURN, NOVEMBER 19, 1911 23 Photo: Professor E. E. Barnard, Yerkes Observatory.

THE SPECTROSCOPE, AN INSTRUMENT FOR ANALYSING LIGHT; IT PROVIDES MEANS FOR IDENTIFYING SUBSTANCES (_Coloured Illustration_) 24

THE MOON 28

MARS 29 Drawings by Professor Percival Lowell.

THE MOON, AT NINE AND THREE QUARTER DAYS 29

A MAP OF THE CHIEF PLAINS AND CRATERS OF THE MOON 32

A DIAGRAM OF A STREAM OF METEORS SHOWING THE EARTH PASSING THROUGH THEM 32

COMET, SEPTEMBER 29, 1908 33 Photo: Royal Observatory, Greenwich.

COMET, OCTOBER 3, 1908 33 Photo: Royal Observatory, Greenwich.

TYPICAL SPECTRA 36 Photo: Harvard College Observatory.

A NEBULAR REGION SOUTH OF ZETA ORIONIS 37 Photo: Mount Wilson Observatory.

STAR CLUSTER IN HERCULES 37 Photo: Astrophysical Observatory, Victoria, British Columbia.

THE GREAT NEBULA IN ORION 40 Photo: Yerkes Observatory.

GIANT SPIRAL NEBULA, MARCH 23, 1914 41 Photo: Lick Observatory.

A SPIRAL NEBULA SEEN EDGE-ON 44 Photo: Mount Wilson Observatory.

100-INCH TELESCOPE, MOUNT WILSON 45 Photo: H. J. Shepstone.

THE YERKES 40-INCH REFRACTOR 48

THE DOUBLE-SLIDE PLATE-HOLDER ON YERKES 40-INCH REFRACTING TELESCOPE 49 Photo: H. J. Shepstone.

MODERN DIRECT-READING SPECTROSCOPE 49 By A. Hilger, Ltd.

CHARLES DARWIN 56 Photo: Rischgitz Collection.

LORD KELVIN 56 Photo: Rischgitz Collection.

A GIANT SPIRAL NEBULA 57 Photo: Lick Observatory.

METEORITE WHICH FELL NEAR SCARBOROUGH AND IS NOW TO BE SEEN IN THE NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM 57 Photo: Natural History Museum.

A LIMESTONE CANYON 60 Reproduced from the Smithsonian Report, 1915.

GEOLOGICAL TREE OF ANIMALS 61

DIAGRAM OF AMOEBA 61

A PIECE OF A REEF-BUILDING CORAL, BUILT UP BY A LARGE COLONY OF SMALL SEA-ANEMONE-LIKE POLYPS, EACH OF WHICH FORMS FROM THE SALTS OF THE SEA A SKELETON OR SHELL OF LIME 64 From the Smithsonian Report, 1917.

A GROUP OF CHALK-FORMING ANIMALS, OR FORAMINIFERA, EACH ABOUT THE SIZE OF A VERY SMALL PIN’S HEAD 65 Photo: J. J. Ward, F.E.S.

A COMMON FORAMINIFER (POLYSTOMELLA) SHOWING THE SHELL IN THE CENTRE AND THE OUTFLOWING NETWORK OF LIVING MATTER, ALONG WHICH GRANULES ARE CONTINUALLY TRAVELLING, AND BY WHICH FOOD PARTICLES ARE ENTANGLED AND DRAWN IN 65 Reproduced by permission of the Natural History Museum (after Max Schultze).

A PLANT-LIKE ANIMAL, OR ZOOPHYTE, CALLED OBELIA 68 Photo: J. J. Ward, F.E.S.

TRYPANOSOMA GAMBIENSE 69 Reproduced by permission of _The Quart. Journ. Mic. Sci._

VOLVOX 69

PROTEROSPONGIA 69

GREEN HYDRA 72 Photo: J. J. Ward, F.E.S.

DIAGRAM ILLUSTRATING THE BEGINNING OF INDIVIDUAL LIFE 72

EARTHWORM 72 Photo: J. J. Ward, F.E.S.

GLASS MODEL OF A SEA-ANEMONE 72 Reproduced from the Smithsonian Report, 1917.

THIS DRAWING SHOWS THE EVOLUTION OF THE BRAIN FROM FISH TO MAN 73

OKAPI AND GIRAFFE (_Coloured Illustration_) 74

DIAGRAM OF A SIMPLE REFLEX ARC IN A BACKBONELESS ANIMAL LIKE AN EARTHWORM 76

THE YUCCA MOTH 76 Photo: British Museum (Natural History).

INCLINED PLANE OF ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR 76

VENUS’ FLY-TRAP 77 Photo: J. J. Ward, F.E.S.

A SPIDER SUNNING HER EGGS 77 Reproduced by permission from _The Wonders of Instinct_ by J. H. Fabre.

THE HOATZIN INHABITS BRITISH GUIANA 82

PERIPATUS 83 Photograph, from the British Museum (Natural History), of a drawing by Mr. E. Wilson.

ROCK KANGAROO CARRYING ITS YOUNG IN A POUCH 83 Photo: W. S. Berridge, F.Z.S.

PROFESSOR THOMAS HENRY HUXLEY (1825-95) 86 Photo: Rischgitz.

BARON CUVIER, 1769-1832 86

AN ILLUSTRATION SHOWING VARIOUS METHODS OF FLYING AND SWOOPING 87

ANIMALS OF THE CAMBRIAN PERIOD 90 From Knipe’s _Nebula to Man_.

A TRILOBITE 90 Photo: J. J. Ward, F.E.S.

THE GAMBIAN MUD-FISH, PROTOPTERUS 91 Photo: British Museum (Natural History).

THE ARCHÆOPTERYX 91 After William Leche of Stockholm.

WING OF A BIRD, SHOWING THE ARRANGEMENT OF THE FEATHERS 91

PICTORIAL REPRESENTATION OF STRATA OF THE EARTH’S CRUST, WITH SUGGESTIONS OF CHARACTERISTIC FOSSILS (_Coloured Illustration_) 92

FOSSIL OF A PTERODACTYL OR EXTINCT FLYING DRAGON 94 Photo: British Museum (Natural History).

PARIASAURUS: AN EXTINCT VEGETARIAN TRIASSIC REPTILE 94 From Knipe’s _Nebula to Man_.

TRICERATOPS: A HUGE EXTINCT REPTILE 95 From Knipe’s _Nebula to Man_.

THE DUCKMOLE OR DUCK-BILLED PLATYPUS OF AUSTRALIA 95 Photo: _Daily Mail_.

SKELETON OF AN EXTINCT FLIGHTLESS TOOTHED BIRD, HESPERORNIS 100 After Marsh.

SIX STAGES IN THE EVOLUTION OF THE HORSE, SHOWING GRADUALINCREASE IN SIZE 101 After Lull and Matthew.

DIAGRAM SHOWING SEVEN STAGES IN THE EVOLUTION OF THE FORE-LIMBS AND HIND-LIMBS OF THE ANCESTORS OF THE MODERN HORSE, BEGINNING WITH THE EARLIEST KNOWN PREDECESSORS OF THE HORSE AND CULMINATING WITH THE HORSE OF TO-DAY 104 After Marsh and Lull.

WHAT IS MEANT BY HOMOLOGY? ESSENTIAL SIMILARITY OF ARCHITECTURE, THOUGH THE APPEARANCES MAY BE VERY DIFFERENT 105

AN EIGHT-ARMED CUTTLEFISH OR OCTOPUS ATTACKING A SMALL CRAB 116

A COMMON STARFISH, WHICH HAS LOST THREE ARMS AND IS REGROWING THEM 116 After Professor W. C. McIntosh.

THE PAPER NAUTILUS (ARGONAUTA), AN ANIMAL OF THE OPEN SEA 117 Photo: J. J. Ward, F.E.S.

A PHOTOGRAPH SHOWING A STARFISH (_Asterias Forreri_) WHICH HAS CAPTURED A LARGE FISH 117

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