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The Christian Philosopher; or, Science and Religion

Note I, p. 22.—Illustration of the rate of Motion in the Heavenly Bodies, on the supposition that the earth is at rest

Note I, p. 22.—Illustration of the rate of Motion in the Heavenly Bodies, on the supposition that the earth is at rest

The distance of the sun is about 95 millions of miles; consequently, the diameter of the circle he would describe around the earth would be 190 millions, and its circumference 597,142,857, which forms the extent of the circuit through which he would move in 24 hours, if the earth were at rest. This number, divided by 24, gives 24,880,952, the number of miles he would move in an hour; and this last number divided by 60, gives 414,682, the number of miles he would move in a minute. The nearest star is reckoned to be at least 20,000,000,000,000, or twenty billions of miles distant from the earth; consequently, its daily circuit round our globe would measure more than 125,000,000,000,000 miles. This sum, divided by 86,400, the number of seconds in a day, would give, 1,454,861,111, or somewhat more than one thousand four hundred millions of miles, for its rate of motion in a second of time,—a motion, which, were it actually existing, would, in all probability, shatter the universe to atoms.

The unlearned reader may, perhaps, acquire a more distinct idea of this explanation in the following figure:—

Fig. 32

Fig. 32

Let the small circle A, in the center, represent the Earth, and the circle B C D E the orbit of the Sun, on the supposition that he moves round the earth every 24 hours. The line A B will represent the distance of the Sun from the Earth, or 95 millions of miles; the line B D the diameter of the orbit he would describe; and the circle B C D E the circumference along which he would move every day, or 597 millions of miles, which is somewhat more than three times the diameter page 149 If the line A F represent the distance of the nearest star, the circle F G H I will represent the circuit through which it would move every 24 hours, if the earth were at rest. It is obvious from the figure that since the stars are at a greater distance from the earth than the sun, the circle they would describe around the earth would be larger in proportion, and, consequently, their velocities would be proportionably more rapid; since they would move through their larger circles in the same time in which the sun moved through his narrower sphere. But, the supposition that the earth is the center of all the celestial motions, and that the different stars are daily moving around it with different velocities, and the slowest of these motions so inconceivably rapid, is so wild and extravagant, that it appears altogether inconsistent with the harmony of the universe, with the wisdom and intelligence of the Deity, and with all the other arrangements he has made in the system of nature.