Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1919-06-29
SUNDAY............,JUNE
GLRIPSES OF THE UNIVERSE.

"When I consider the heavens, the
work of thy fingers;
The sun and moon which thou hast
ordained;
What is man that thou are mindful
of him,
OR the son of man that thou yistest
him ?''
With few exceptions the people Oh
the earth walk its surface as uninter-
ested in the starry universe as though
the stars were but so many humming
insects above their heads. But the
student of the stars learns that he is
looking at thousands of suns. millions
of years old, each swinging through
its appointed orbit. each giving its
neghbor many millions of miles lee
way and all forming universe SO
large that our sun and its eight plan
cts are relatively but a speck in the
total
This statement is written because
of a conversation some time ago be-
tween the writer and w. p. Metcalf
OF this city on the value which any
person who will may have from study
ing some one of the sciences as side
line. He had read a little book by
Garrett p. Service on the study of
astronomy with an opera glass. 1t is
popular work, requiring no other
preparation than mere ability to read.
Judge Herbert f. Reynolds took up
the suggestion and became an enthu-
siast on the subject
Among the purely recreative side
lines that one may have for the taking
none offers such store of cultural
pleasure as some of the physical
sciences, such as astronomy or geology
or biology in any of their major or
minor departments. such as the study
with an opera glass of the stars, and
of plants, insects and birds.
He who has dipped into any of these
in his high school days will have a
start toward a side-line science. A
college course is not essential, though
it has great advantages to offer.
Such studies are of great benefit in
broadening intellect and refining char
acter. The student with the micro
scope looks into a world of infinite
variety, symmetry and beauty, a world
with countless population; and a stu
dent of the stars can hardly be a
pettish mortal hateful neighbor,
stacking citizen or a trifling ndivid-
ual
But those of us who have been too
busy to give attention to the things
about us have little idea of what a
wonderful universe we live in, or what
science now tells us regarding it. To
the Greek intelligence the universe
was flat disk encircled by the ocean
and vaulted by armament in which
hung lamp-like stars and a blazing
orb of day. Before the time of Copper
nicus the universe remained pretty
much what men could see with the
unassisted eye and travel over by
ship or on horse. Even in the nine
teenth century geology was a super
fetal knowledge and astronomy most
ly an affair of mathematics with
little chemistry thrown in.
But great change has taken place
within twenty-five years. even. What.
the wireless will finally do no one can
say. We talk through air as well as
send dots and dashes, and Marconi
holds it entirely possible that we may
eventually communicate inteligently
with the inhabitants of other planets
Knowledge-or the possibilities of
--knowledge-has of late been almost
catching up with faith.
BY taking a little time. after having
purchased few inexpensive books,
any one may get an inkling of the
wonders of the universe, and be well
paid for this merely side-line knowl-
edge.