The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-01-13

in these branches of the science
dealing with the motions of the heav-
enly bodies which were cultivated at least
5000 years ago by early jewellers in the
valleys of the Nile TiGris. and Euphrates.
but with the fact that during the century
that has passed away a perfectly new sci
ence of astronomy has arisen BY annex
ing physics and chemistry astronomers
now study the motions of the particles
of which all celestial bodies are composed:
a new molecular astronomy has now been
firmly established side by side with the
old molar astronomy which formerly alone
occupied the thoughts of star-gazers.
Along this new line our knowledge has
advanced by leaps and bounds, and the
results already obtained in expanding and
perfectfng mans views Of nature in all
her beauty and immensely are second to
none which have been garnered during the
last hundred years.
THE POSITION At THE BEGINNING OF TIIE
CENTURY.
It may be well before attempting to o.
tain glimpse of recent progress that we
should try TO grasp the state of the SCI
ence at the time when the nineteenth CEN
haps can be best accomplished by seeing
what men were working at this period, at
which the greatest activity was to be
found in Germany: there was no perma-
nent observatory in the southern hemi-
sphere or in the United States.
First and foremost among the workers
he has, in fact, been described as the
greatest of modern astronomers'-Nsss
It'll. I -,
England. In the year I7I3 he hired te,e-
scope, and with this small instrument he
obtained his first glimpses Of the rich
fields of exploration open in the skies.
From that time onward he had one fixed
purpose in his mind. which was to obtain
as intimate knowledge as possible of the
construction of the heavens.
To do this, of course. great optical pow
er was necessary, and such was his en-
ergy that, as large instruments were not
TO be obtained at any price, he set to work
and made them himself.
Hersehel presented the beginning of the
nineteenth century not only with a def
mite idea of the constitution of the stellar
system, based on a connected body of
facts and deductions from facts. as
vaticns without number in many fields.
He discovered a new planet, Uranus. and
several satellites of the planets; published
catalogues of nebulae; established the
gravitado-aT bond between many double
stars" and carried on observations of the
sun, then supposed to be hahttable globe.
What Herschel did for observational as
tronomy and deductions therefrom La
place did for the furtherance of our knowl-
edge concerning the exact motions of the
bodies comprising the solar system New
ton had long before announced that gravi-
sation was universal, and Lapiace brought
together Investigations undertaken to de
serrnine the validity of this law. These
were given to the world in his wonderful
book on Celestial Mechanics the first
volumes of which appeared in 1893.
A survey of the work OF these two great
astronomers gives one idea of what
was going on in observational and matiIe-
NAUTICAL astronomy at the beginning Of the
century.
The study was now destined TO make
rapid strides, as not only were new optical
Instruments, some designed for special
purposes, introduced; new mathematical
processes applied; fresh fields for research
opened up; but the number Of workers was
considerably augmented by the increased
means available; so much so, indeed, that
the first astronomical periodical was
founded by Won Zach in 1900 to facilitate
intercoramlhlieatio tons between the observ-
ers.
The first evening of the nineteenth cen
fury January /, 1s0D augured well for
progress. 1t had long been thought that
all the members OF the solar system had
not as yet been discovered, and there was
very notable gap between the planets
Mars and Jupiter. indicated by BODIES
law. Observers were organized to make a
thorough search for the missing planet,
portions of the sky being divided between
them for minute examination. 1t fell 10
the Italian observer. Piazzi, to discover a
small body, which was moving in an orbit
between these two planets. on the date
named The century thus began with a
sensation. and because the new body,
which was named Ceres" was not OF
sufficient size TO be accepted as the miss
ing planet" the idea was suggested that
perhaps II was a fragment of a larger
planet that had been blown to pieces in
the past.
An opportunity here arose for mathe-
mstical astronomy to come to the help OF
the observer for Ceres soon was lost in
the solar rays, and In order to rediseover
Il, after II had passed conjunction an ap-
proximate knowledge of ~ path and fu-
ture position was necessary.
With the then existing methods Of COM
putation OF orbits it was imperative to
have numerous measured positions to use
rs data for the calculation. The scanty
data available In the case Of Ceres were not
sufficient for the application OF the meth
cd. The occasion discovered nan, one
Of the greatest nlathema ticians of the
nineteenth century, Kari Frederick Gauss.
who, although only twenty-five years of
age. undertook the solution OF the problem
by employing a system which he had de-
vised. known as the method OF least
squares" which enabled him to obtain a
most probable result from given set OF
observations
This, with more general method of or.
bit computation, also elaborated by him
self, was sufficient to enable him to calcu.
late future positions of Ceres, and on the
anniversary Of the original discovery. o.
beTs. another great pioneer In orbit ca,cu-
lations found the planet in very nearly
the position assigned by Gauss. SO great
as the curiosity regarding the other por-
lions of the planet which was supposed to
have been shattered. that numerous OBJ
servers at once commenced to search after