Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Comparison Between The Ancients And Moderns In Science And Literature.
theorems and facts relative to the centrifugal or centripetal forces , to the elliptical properties of the planetary orbits , to the method of calculating the return of comets , or to any of the abstruser parts of this science . Some of the more obvious and notorious facts are quite sufficient for this purpose . Indeed , to perceive the superior advancement of modern philosophy in this subject , we need only turn our attention to the surprising degree of , facility and accuracy with which astronomers have ascertained the distances of the planets from the sun , the earth , and from each other ; the velocities of their respective motions ,
and their apparent and real magnitudes . The alternate succession of day and night , and the vicissitudes of the seasons , which were formerly supposed to require the revolution of the solar luminary itself , are now discovered to be the effects of the simple motion of the earth round its axis , and the inclination of the ecliptic to the equator . The once formidable appearance of eclipses , which have so often been regarded with superstitious awe as the portentous omens of some
dire event , even by civilized nations , and been looked up to with terror by the untutored savage , as owing to the displeasure of an incensed Deity , is now rationally ascribed to the intervention of the moon between the sun and the earth , or of the latter between the two former , so as to obstruct the rays of li ght proceeding from those luminaries . But the views of modern astronomers have not been confined within the boundaries of the solar system . They have boldl y ventured into the unexplored regions of infinite space , and have
imagined that the fixed stars are other suns , round which different systems of planets , similar to ours , are continually revolving . Nor is this merely the chimerical conjecture of a luxuriant imagination . That they are luminaries , is evident from the utter impossibility of reflected light being perceived at such an immense distance . And if we take into consideration the final cause of these distant suns , we must be convinced of jfae probability of this sublime theory . It is a
conception , which of all others indicates , in the most conspicuous manner , that liberality of sentiment , and that enlarged expansion of the understanding , of which the refinements of modern philosophy have been so happily productive . The great progress and advancement , however , of astronomy has been owing in a very considerable degree to the studof opticsand
y , indeed never could have attained the perfection to which it has arrived without its friendly assistance . Nothing perhaps has contributed more to the enlargement of natura l knowledge , or to the convenience and accommodation of civil life , than the invention and use
of optical glasses . Like many of the most important discoveries in science , in the arts , and even in common life , our knowledge of the power which convex and concave lenses possess of magnif ying and diminishing objects , owes its origin entirely to chance . Singular as it may appear , the most trivial circumstance , the casual position of two spectacle glasses , first suggested the hint to a Swedish trader , which was afterwards put into execution b y the famous Galileo , of constructing the telescope . From its use in astronomy , discoveries have been
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Comparison Between The Ancients And Moderns In Science And Literature.
theorems and facts relative to the centrifugal or centripetal forces , to the elliptical properties of the planetary orbits , to the method of calculating the return of comets , or to any of the abstruser parts of this science . Some of the more obvious and notorious facts are quite sufficient for this purpose . Indeed , to perceive the superior advancement of modern philosophy in this subject , we need only turn our attention to the surprising degree of , facility and accuracy with which astronomers have ascertained the distances of the planets from the sun , the earth , and from each other ; the velocities of their respective motions ,
and their apparent and real magnitudes . The alternate succession of day and night , and the vicissitudes of the seasons , which were formerly supposed to require the revolution of the solar luminary itself , are now discovered to be the effects of the simple motion of the earth round its axis , and the inclination of the ecliptic to the equator . The once formidable appearance of eclipses , which have so often been regarded with superstitious awe as the portentous omens of some
dire event , even by civilized nations , and been looked up to with terror by the untutored savage , as owing to the displeasure of an incensed Deity , is now rationally ascribed to the intervention of the moon between the sun and the earth , or of the latter between the two former , so as to obstruct the rays of li ght proceeding from those luminaries . But the views of modern astronomers have not been confined within the boundaries of the solar system . They have boldl y ventured into the unexplored regions of infinite space , and have
imagined that the fixed stars are other suns , round which different systems of planets , similar to ours , are continually revolving . Nor is this merely the chimerical conjecture of a luxuriant imagination . That they are luminaries , is evident from the utter impossibility of reflected light being perceived at such an immense distance . And if we take into consideration the final cause of these distant suns , we must be convinced of jfae probability of this sublime theory . It is a
conception , which of all others indicates , in the most conspicuous manner , that liberality of sentiment , and that enlarged expansion of the understanding , of which the refinements of modern philosophy have been so happily productive . The great progress and advancement , however , of astronomy has been owing in a very considerable degree to the studof opticsand
y , indeed never could have attained the perfection to which it has arrived without its friendly assistance . Nothing perhaps has contributed more to the enlargement of natura l knowledge , or to the convenience and accommodation of civil life , than the invention and use
of optical glasses . Like many of the most important discoveries in science , in the arts , and even in common life , our knowledge of the power which convex and concave lenses possess of magnif ying and diminishing objects , owes its origin entirely to chance . Singular as it may appear , the most trivial circumstance , the casual position of two spectacle glasses , first suggested the hint to a Swedish trader , which was afterwards put into execution b y the famous Galileo , of constructing the telescope . From its use in astronomy , discoveries have been