Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1900-10-01
WHERE DOES THE SUMS HEAT COZ
Can Energy BE Completely Dissipated in
This Universe?

jan cheTBy be Diss1pateu IN
This Universe?
| According to the ordinary view the
| sun is constantly radiating heat in all
| directions, and, l think, it is gener-
ally supposed that only small por-
tlon of this heat encounters material
bodies.at any distance, however great.
Ii so, the question arises, What be-
comes of the residue? Physical re-
search leads us to believe that heat
cannot be destroyed, but only trans
| formed; yet many persons seem to
think that this heat vanishes like a
| ghost without transformation and
without producing any effect. This
may be so, but it is so much opposed
to physical analogies that we should
be slow to accept it unless on the ba-
sis of definite observations which,
| think, it will be admitted are not at
| present forthcoming
Nor can we confine the question to
the sun. The loss of radiant heat
must ION the theory which 1 am now
considering extend to all the stars
A larger portion of the heat of some
of them is no doubt intercepted by
other bodies, but some of it must es
cape-vanish. The whole universe Is
| losing heat: or at least it Is losing
motion, for the supply of heat may be
temporarily kept up by the conversion
of motion into heat las, for example
by bombardment of meteorites)
But that a good part of the radiant
heat vanishes, thus lessening the total
amount of force-of heat and its equiv.
| alents-in the universe, seems to be a
common opinion. This theory, how
ever (for of course everything on the
| subject is theory, will strike many of
your readers as unsatisfactory for
physical, not metaphysical or theolog
ical reasons. But if this heat be not
lost what becomes of it?
If the suns rays and those of the
stars always met with some material
body, however great its distance
might be, the problem would be
solved; there would be no loss of heat
to the universe. The sun may at pres
ent be radiating more than it receives,
and. consequently, cooling; but in
travelling through space it may reach
other regions in which these condi-
tions will be reversed. But it seems
| plain that If this be the case, the
greater part of the bodies which en-
counter the solar heat are dark bodies,
or else that there is an absorption Of
light in passing through the ether.
Such an absorption of light and heat
by the ether-as maintained, believe,
by the great observer Struve-would
equally solve the problem; for the
light and heat thus absorbed could
not be lost, and would probably be
given back by the ether to material
bodies in some manner not yet traced.
Otherwise, it would change the prop
critics of the ether.
A third possible alternative is that
radiation, like gravltation, only acts
between material bodies, and that,
though, like gravitation, it acts on n
material body in any direction and fol-
lows it in all its movements, there is
no expenditure of force in the direc-
tions In which no material body is en-
countered. On this theory also there
would be no loss of heat There
would only be an interchange of the
same kind as If every heat ray ulti,
mately encountered material body
w. H. S. Monck, in Knowledge.