Evening star., 1929-12-20
CELESTIAL M|SHAP
IS CREDITED WITH
EARTH'S CREATION
Dr.. L. n. Adams ExpoundS
Theory in Lecture Before
Academy of Science.
RAREST OF ACCIDENTS
is SEEN IN COLLISION
Explains Larger Star Tore Away
Part of Sun by Attraction
of Gravity.
BY THOMAS r. HENRY.

BY THOMAS X. HENRY.
The creation of the earth was due
to the rarest sort Of celestial accident,
DR.. L. H. Adams of the Carnegie In
stitution told the Washington Academy
of Sciences last night in the first OF
a series of public, lectures designed to
cover the whole field of genesis and
evolution.
It was due, he said, to a larger star
coming close enough to the sun to tear
away some of its mass by the attrac-
ton of gravity, but mathematical CAL
culation shows that, despite the fact
that there were approximately 30,000,-
100000 stars in the local galaxy" of
which the sun is part and that all
are moving in changing courses at
enormous velocity, such an accident, by
the laws of chance, could happen only
once in 100000 100000 years. The
age of the Milky Way galaxy, he said.
Is estimated at about 10,000,0 ,000,000,000
years. Thus it is reasonable to sup
pose that there are nine other stars
among the 30,000,0O0,000 which have
planets revolving around them some
what comparable to the earth.
On these alone would life be possible.
But, DR. Adams said, there is no way
of knowing that the other nine ac-
ctdents happened in just the same way
so as to produce planet which could
1OoICL 0O Ll1C cdIlIi, ana pOSoIDIy
its nelghbor planet, Venus, may be the
only spots in the whole galactic system
upon which there are living things.
Only Small Part of Universe.
But recent researches have shown,
DR.. Adams said, that the 10000 900 ,000-
star system, which up to a few years
ago was thought to be all of creation,
it itself only small part of the total
universe. The 100-inch telescope at
Mount Wilson, Calf, has revealed at
least 100000 other galaxies. many of
them comparable in size to that of the
milky way, and there may be a great
many others so distant in space that
they are invisible In each of these,
accidents" which have produced
planets capable of nurturing life
The accident to which we owe our
existence, he explained, happened about
1000 100000 years ago. The other sun.
hurtling through space at a speed of
about miles second, came so near
the sun that it probably was within the
limits of the present solar system. Great
tides of white-hot gas were raised on
both stars by their mutual gravitational
pull, but the visitor was SO much larger
than the sun that it wrenched some of
this tidal material loose altogether.
Then this unknown father" of the
earth continued on his endless celestial
Journey. and is now at least 100000
OO0,000,000 miles away. leaving the de-
serted mother star to care for her eight
infant giants, composing the planets of
the solar system. His trail is effectively
covered up with time and distance so
that he never can be traced.
Forced Planets to RevoIye.
AT first the planets were great masses
OF white hot gas, he said-parts of the
suns body torn away from it. But
1t threw the protecting arm of gravi-
tation around them and, while she
could not pull them back forced them
to revolve in orbits around her. Due to
the very immensity of such a body as
the sun with its tremendous internal
pressure and other forces, he explained,
the elements remain always White-hot
gas. But once free in space there is
little to keep them hot and they cocl
rapidly.
1t required only about 10000 years,
he said, for the earth to cool from a
gas to liquid Then the liquid hard
ened into a solid form approximately
that of the earth today, with an aver
age climate only a little above freez-
ing. which has not changed materially
through the millions of years. In the
original gas torn from the sun, he
said, there were approximately 80 ele-
mentS, but principally magnesium. iron,
silicon and oxygen. When the liquid
globe hardened the process was much
like the freezing of sea water. Most of
the salt is left out of the ice. So most
of the minor elements were left out Of
the main body of the earth and re-
manned at the surface.
The final result was a globe with
an inner core comprising approximately
half its bulk of iron with little nickel.
This was surrounded with an internal
zone composed almost entirely of mag
nesium, iron, silicon and oxygen. Then .
comes the thin outer crust with ap-
proXimately all the elements found in
the sun.
Internal Core Molten"
The iron internal core, he said, is
molten" but not in the popular con-
ception. It is very hard and rigid, but
it is not crystallized, as is all other
inorganic solid matter. The molten
lava thrown up by volcanoes he pointed
out, does not represent the material of
the earth's interior, but is entirely from
the surface zone, originating from 10
to so miles down.
Once the origin of the earth is ex-
planned by the cooling of gas torn from
the sun by gravity, he said, the steps
in it's evolution 10 the form of the
crescent abode of life follow in logical
order, while recent Investigations make
it more and more insignificant in q
total creation the farthest visible galac-
tic system of which Is the group of
starts N6C4860, recently discovered by
the Mount Wilson telescope, which are
at least 50000000 light years. or ap-
250,000,000, 900 200. .000,0o
miles distance in space, while the
suns nearest neighbor. the star Alpha
Centauri, is about 10000, 900 00000o
miles away
Prof. William J. Humphries of the
United States Weather Bureau ex-
planned that this series of free public
lectures on evolution and genesis of
things represents a major project of
the Academy OF Sciences to acquaint the
general nublic with the facts nnm