Evening star., 1933-11-17
Age of Universe Believed Less
Than Is Generally Calculated
FIR. Georges LIE Maitre Sets Beginning of
Time at 100000, 900 Years Ago-De-
ctares Expansion Still in Progress.

Now, he pointed out, the original
explosion presumably PROJECTED the
material OF the primeval atom equally
in all directions, so that. If nothing else
had tntervened, matters would be equally
distributed throughout space This
would leave universe with essentially
nothing in it. The content of matter
in space would be approximately one
tenth OF one-trillionth of a gram per
cubic cent1meter. That. in fact, is about
the condition that would be found in the
vast reaches Of empty space
The explosion and the resultant ex-
pansion, FT. lie Maitre explained. must
have been due to some force which.
while 1t is foreign to human experience,
can be rather exactly calculated. He
calls II cosmic force. 1t can be described
as the driving apart" force-the oupo
site OF the force of gravity, or the pull
lng-together' force. 1t is operative only
over enormous distances. whereas grav-
lty is operative over short distances.
mat Is why gravity is a matter of uni
Versal experience. while cosmic force is
eonpletely foreign to experience.
Believes in Critical Point"
In the process of the explosion. Father
LIE Maitre said, there must have come
a time when a Critical point" was
reached when gravity and the cosmic
force were in essential equilibrium
This gave gravity chance TO work al
most unhampered within limited areas
and the particles of matter were pulled
together to form the star systems now
seen in the heavens.
rms critical point also can be calcu
lated, he said. There is a point where
tne gravltational attraction of such a.
oody as the sun reduces to the point
Wnere the cosmic force overcomes il
rms marks the limit of a star system
IL IS natural for the uncritical mind
ne said. to consider space as infinite
one can always ask, what lies beyond
everything and then what lies beyond
that. But considered by the physicist
he said, such a condition becomes ab-
surd and the calculator finds himself
arriving at a finite universe in snite
OF himself. Thus, he said. the reIativ-
ISIS are seeking not to contravene com
mon sense, but to eliminate the diff
cultleS which uncritical common sense
gets Itself into. For this it is neces-
Sary, considering the universe as n
whole, to discard the familiar Euclidian
geometry Of three dimensions and in
troduce extra dimensions which are
foreign to human experience. That, of
course, does not prove they do not exist.
Holds to EucIidian Geometry.
But, he said, for such a small area
as the galaxy-only about 100000 light
years in diameter, or the distance which
would be traversed by a light ray moy-
ing about 10000 miles a second for
100000 years-the old Euclidian geon-
etry Is sound enough The variations
from 1t are not great enough to maze
any difference. The universe of expe-
rience acts almost as if it actually were
what the much esteemed Common
sense" limited by human sensory per-
ception, conceives it to be. It is only
when the universe as a whole is con-
sidered, he said, that the accumulative
error becomes so great that the three
dimensional concept must be aban-
doned.
The hypothesis Of the expanding uni
verse resulting from the primevaI
atom explosion, he said. can be vail
dated well enough from the condition
Of the visible universe and explained in
the ordinary laws of mechanics without
resorttng to per-dimensional scheme
of things.
The valuation Of his theory. Father
LIE Maitre said. rests upon the objective
nndings OF physicists and astronomers
and thus far these have fitted vera
well.