From: Hofmann, Jim (jhofmann@exchange.fullerton.edu)
Date: Sun Sep 28 2003 - 12:20:02 EDT
I would recommend Comets, Popular Culture, and the Birth of Modern Cosmology, by Sara J. Schechner (1997, Princeton University Press).
Jim Hofmann
Cal State Fullerton
-----Original Message-----
From: Loren Haarsma [mailto:lhaarsma@calvin.edu]
Sent: Tue 9/23/2003 11:47 AM
To: _American Sci Affil
Cc:
Subject: Reference needed for "Newton's comets"
I recall reading that when Isaac Newton calculated the orbits of the
planets, he believed that they would become unstable after a few hundred
or thousand years due to mutual gravitational attraction; that Newton
proposed that God occasionally sent comets through the solar system with
just the right mass and trajectories to correct these instabilities; and
that LaPlace eventually showed that planetary orbits were stable for much
longer periods of time.
Does someone know of a published reference for this? All I can find so
far is page 91 of Colin A. Russell's "Cross-currents: Interactions Between
Science and Faith" (InterVarsity Press), and that doesn't give
much detail.
Thank you.
Loren Haarsma
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.4 : Sun Sep 28 2003 - 12:20:34 EDT