Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1907-09-19
The Study of the Stars.

uS
clared Sir David Gill in his presiden-
tial address to the members of the
British Association at Leicester,
"were confident in the adequacy of
their intellectual powers alone to de-
termlne the laws of human thought
and regulate the actions of their
fellow men, and they did not hesl-
tate to employ the same unsupport-
ed means for the solution of the rid
die OF the universe.
Every school of philosophy was
agreed that some object which they
could see was a fixed center of the
universe, and the battle was fought
as TO what that center was. The alb
sence Of facts, their entire ignorance
of methods of exact measurement,
did not daunt them, and the question
furnished them a subject OF dispute
and fruitless occupation for twenty
five centuries.
But astronomers now reclgnizs
that Bradley's meridian observations
at Greenwich, made only $50 years
ago, have contributed more to the
advancement of sidereal astronomy
than all the speculations of preced-
ing centuries. They have learned
the lesson that human knowledge
in the slowly developing phenomena
of sldereal astronomy must be content
to progress by the accumulatlng la
bors of successive generations Of
men; that progress will be measured
for generations yet to come more by
the amount of honest, well-directed
and Systematically discussed obser-
walton than by the most brilliant
speculation; and that, In observation
concentrated systematic effort on a
special thoughtfully selected prob
lem will be of more avail than the
most brilliant but disconnected
work.
"By these means we shall learn
more and more of the wonders that
surround us, and recognize our limi-
tatlons when measurements and facts
fail us.
"Hugglns' spectroscope has shown
that many nebulae are not stars at
all; that many well-condensed nebu-
lac, as well as vast patches OF nebu-
lous light in the sky, are but in
choate masses OF luminous gas.
Evidence upon evidence has accumu-
lated TO show that such nebulae CON
slsts of the matter OF which stars
q. @. suns) have been and are being !
evolved.
"The different types OF star spec
ira form such complete and grad
ual sequence (from simple spectrf
resembling those OF nebulae onward
through types of gradually increas-
ing complexity) as TO suggest that |
we have before rs. written in the I
cryptograms of these spectra, the |
story of the evolution OF /
the evolution OF suns from the In
choate nebula onward to the most !
active sun Clike our ownl. and then
downward to the almost heatless and
invisible ball.
"The period during whlN human
life has existed on our globe Is prob
ably too short-even II our first par
rnts hai begun the work-to afford
observational proof OF such cycle
of change In any particular star;
but the fact of such evolution. with
the evidence before us, can hardly
be doubted
81 most fully believe that, when
the notifications OF terrestrial spec
ira under sufficiently varied condi.
tons of temperature. pressure. and
environment have been further stu
died, this conclusion will be greatly |
strengthened. But In this study we
must have regard also TO the spectra
OF the stars themselves.
The stars are the erucibles of
the Creator. There We see matter
under conditions OF temperature and
pressure and environment. the carrie
iy OF which We can't hope to emulate
In our laboratories. and on a scale
Of magnitude beside which the pro-
portion of our greatest experiment
is less than that OF the drop to the
ocean.
The spectroscopic astronomer
has TO thank the physicist and the