The times-herald. [volume] (Burns, Harney County, Or.) 1896-1929, 1914-01-03
PERFECT SPHERES
With AID His Scientific Skill Man
Cannot Produce Them.
TnE CURvlNG OF A BASEBALL,

" " Possible Only Because the eah "
en- Imperfect Globe and In compari.
sen with lie Size Much Rougher
Than the Surface Of the Earth.
Tho real reason why baseball can
be thrown NO that It will describe won.
derful curves during It's progress
through the air IL that every such ball
has 4 surfnce mnde up OF mountains
valleys. cruters. canyons, gorges, plains
and other Irregularities Of the surface
that, when the difference In size Is
taken into consideration. makes the
surface of the earth seem like plate
glass.
II Il were possible to make perfect
sphere-if Il were possible TO make
baseball with an absolutely smooth sur
face and an exact sphere-no pitcher
IA the world could make II curve. The
very best pitchers baseball has ever
known or probably ever viii know
could not make the ball devlate hairs
breadth In its tiight.
And 30 while 1t ls partly In the art
or knack the professional pitcher has
IN holding and releasing the baseball
as he throws II. II is also due TO the
fact that baseball has n wonderfully
rough surface against which the air
catches and turns II that gives It the
curve.
Il you pass your hand over Il plate
glass Il moves smoothly with nothing
to retard It. IL you pass your hand
over an unpaned board you can feel
the oughness-splinters we call them
You cannot move your hand MS easily
ever the board. This Is the same prin'
eiple with the baseball. There IN
soughness In its surface that catches
In the air and forces one side about or
retards that side. This has but one
resuit-to make the baseball leave Its
straight course. and in doing this 1t de
scribes a curve,
This does not detract In the least
from the cleverness of the pitcher who
can so accurately judge his muscular
control as to make baseball curve up
or down. right or left. But the fact
remains that It is the roughncss of the
baseball that makes all his pitching
elsverness possible.
Take a brand new league bah In
your hand. II looks to be n perfect
sphere--that is, absolutely even and
uniformly round and as smooth as
glass" And II may be as smooth as
glass. for glass also has a rough sur
face.
Put a baseball under the most pow
erful microscope, enlarge II microscope
cally 10000 diameters, and what do
you seer The very thing mentioned In
the frst paragraph OF this nrtIcio. The
surface Is rough II looks like the
landscape In the Alps or Yellowstone
park or any other rough section OF the
earth. II has peaks. ranges. ridges
valleys. plains and holes, gulchcs and
all sorts OF uneven places, aud II the
earth could be made as small rs
baseball It would be practically per
feet sphere and absolutely smooth
This Is because the highest mountains
Of the earth and the deepest valleys
would be millions upon millions OF
times smaller In comparison with the
rough uneven places on baseball II
either the earth were reduced to the
size OF a baseball or baseball enlnrg-
ed 10 the size OF the earth
If this were not true the earth would
not revolve so regularly upon Its axis
It would perform an 'in shoot or
"out shoot" and curve of through
space.
Even the billiard bail has surface
much rougher in comparison to its size
than the surface of the earth, and we
refer to a billiard ball as about the
smoothest thing known "As smooth
a. q billiard ball" is n well known
simile. For the same reason that
perfectly smooth baseball could not be
curved, a perfectly smooth and per
fectly round billiard ball could not be
made to curve on the table 1t would
not take English" as billiard players
call II when they make ball go for
ward and then roll backward or in any
direction Just by the manner In which
they strike II with chalked cue.
This fact of roughness causing 1t to
spin becomes all too evident when n
player forRets to chalk his cue and
plays several shots thereafter. II the
leather tip OF the cue becomes shiny
II viii slip on the ball. There is no
purchase with which It can take hold.
But chalk is sticky stun, and the gran
uIes are large. 30 that n well chalkcd
cue has q very rough surface, and this
rough surface Of the tip OF the cue nts
into the rough projections on the ball,
and thereby a ball can be given lot |
Of twist. In order to accomplish this
successfully. moreover, the billiard
cloth nap must be new and therefore
rough.
During recent experimentation with |
regard TO the kinetIc theory OF gases |
Belgian scientist desired TO find out
bow perfect n sphere could be made In |
order that by the clashing Of these to.
gether an idea might be secured OF the |
effect OF the collisions OF the spherical |
atoms that make up gas The prof. |
ect had to be abandoned at last be
cause no machinery could be construct |
ed that would turn out n perfect |
sphere artihcially, and nature has no
perfect sphere OF large size In all her
many forms OF matter. Perfect disks |
could be made, but round ball was
beyond the limits OF human accom-
piisbment-New York American.
The greatest pleasure IL the power 20
s.lt