CENTURY OLD PHYSICAL SCIENCE Vintage

[RascalPuff]

AN EASY OUTLINE OF EVOLUTION, by Dennis Hird, M.A., copyright 1903
Chapter 10

THE EVOLUTION OF THE WORLD

MR. HERBERT SPENCER, in First Principles, p. 30, says: "Respecting the origin of the universe three verbally intelligible suppositions may be made. We may assert that it is self-existent; or that it is self-created; or that it is created by an external agency."

By the aid of Dean Mansel, he proves that each of these suppositions is inconceivable.

The Very Reverend Dean says: "The conception of the Absolute and the Infinite, from whatever side we view it, appears encompassed with contradiction," among other reasons because we can do nothing "towards explaining how the absolute can give rise to the relative, the infinite to the finite."

Those who wish to see all this worked out with much subtlety must go to First Principles. We only refer to it here to show that none of the three suppositions named above stand in the way of scientific inquiry or help us in this inquiry. If they are all alike unthinkable, then they are of equal value or no value in helping us to a knowledge of causation.

For clearly science can only deal with what can be known.

To say "that the power which the universe manifests to us is utterly inscrutable" might be a fitting burial service for much metaphysical dust, and, in addition to this, it opens a free highway to the searcher after truth.

But we do not proceed far on this path of inquiry before we meet two monsters which, in more senses than one, have devoured the sons of men—I mean, Space and Time.

Mr. Spencer asks: "What are space and time? Two hypotheses are current respecting them: the one that they are objective, and the other that they are subjective—the one that they are external to, and independent of, ourselves; the other that they are internal and appertain to our own consciousness."
He examines the statement that space and time are entities, and the contention that they are forms of thought, and arrives at the conclusion "that space and time are wholly incomprehensible."

He next examines matter, and says: "In its ultimate nature it is as absolutely incomprehensible as space and time."

Motion and force he finds equally incomprehensible in their ultimate natures.

The position of the man of science is thus summed up:—
"Supposing him, in every case, able to resolve the appearances, properties, and movements of things into manifestations of force in space and time, he still finds that force, space, and time pass all understanding. Similarly, though the analysis of mental actions may finally bring him down to sensations, as the original materials out of which all thought is woven, yet he is little forwarder; for he can give no account either of sensations themselves or of that something which is conscious of sensations. Objective and subjective things he thus ascertains to be alike inscrutable in their substance and genesis. In all directions his investigations eventually bring him face to face with an insoluble enigma; he learns at once the greatness and the littleness of the human intellect; its power in dealing with all that comes within the range of experience; its impotence in dealing with all that transcends experience. He realises with a special vividness the utter incomprehensibleness of the simplest fact considered in itself. He, more than any other, truly knows that in its ultimate essence nothing can be known" (pp. 66 and 67).

Of course, some readers will note that this last sentence begs the whole question as to whether there is such a thing as ultimate essence or not, just as the former conclusion begged the question as to whether the universe manifests one Power which is inscrutable.

Mr. Spencer next deals with the relativity of all knowledge, and thinks he proves that the relative and the absolute stand or fall together. But many hold that in this he fails, for one may be real and the other may not.

Now, all notions which deal with suppositions outside human experience are properly called transcendental. The transcendental is of no value to science, for it does not admit of being known or verified.

Mr. Spencer points out that "relations are of two orders: relations of sequence and relations of co-existence, of which the one is original and the other derivative." "The abstract of all sequences is time; the abstract of all co-existences is space."
"Space and time, therefore, are relative realities."

"Our conception of matter, reduced to its simplest shape, is that of co-existent positions that offer resistance." "Hence the necessity we are under of representing to ourselves the ultimate elements of matter as being at once extended and resistant." Our experience of force is that out of which the idea of matter is built.

Matter is another relative reality.

"Our conception of motion as presented or represented in the developed consciousness involves the conceptions of space, of time, and of matter. A something that moves; a series of positions occupied in succession; and a group of co-existent positions united in thought with the successive ones—these are the constituents of the idea."

"Motion, as we know it, is thus traceable, in common with the other ultimate scientific ideas, to experiences of force."

"We come down, then, finally to force as the ultimate of ultimates." Space, time, matter, motion, as we know them, are all either built up of, or abstracted from, experiences of force.

These scrappy quotations from First Principles are not given as representing Mr. Spencer's argument, but merely to clear the way for our inquiry into the Evolution of the World.

Perhaps it would be of help to some readers to refer to Professor Karl Pearson's newer setting of this doctrine.

Many great minds have pondered over this question in different generations. Descartes said; "Give me extension and motion, and I will construct the world."

Mr. Pearson says; "'Give me motion and space capable of changing its shape, and I will explain the universe to you, is far more rational than Kant's 'Give me matter, and I will create the world,' for matter being granted not much universe is left to be explained."

Again; "Force is not, then, a real cause of change in motion. It is merely a description of change in motion. But force, being the how of a motion, may naturally suggest that matter is that which moves."

"The sensible existence of matter is entirely dependent on the existence of motion—that is, change of position and change of shape."

"If we bring any two bodies together, we notice that they change each other's motion. Everything in the universe is changing the motion of every other thing."

"Science has reduced the universe, not to those unintelligible concepts, matter and force, but to the very intelligible concept, MOTION. All that we know of mass is its measurement in motion" (lecture on "Matter and Soul," 1886).

Extension and motion may be the necessary properties of matter. At least, we know that where there is motion there is matter. And, whether we use the terms
[page] 184

"Matter and Force" or "Matter and Motion," we recognise the accepted conclusions of science that both are indestructible. This greatest of discoveries teaches us that neither can be destroyed, so that it is almost certain as they can have no end that they had no beginning.

This is called the transformation and equivalence of forces. That is, just as the same particles of matter may at one time form parts of a rose and at another time parts of a mushroom, so the same force may at one time strike a church as lightning, and at another time may be the mother-love which rocks the cradle.

This will not be deemed fanciful by the reader who masters the following: "The transformations of electricity into other modes of force are still more clearly demonstrable. Produced by the motion of heterogeneous bodies in contact, electricity generates magnetism in a bar of soft iron; and now the rotation of a permanent magnet generates currents of electricity. Here we have a battery in which, from the play of chemical affinities, an electric current results; and there, in the adjacent cell, we have an electric current effecting chemical decomposition. In the conducting wire we witness the transformation of electricity into heat; while in electric sparks and in the voltaic arc we see light produced. Atomic arrangement, too, is changed by electricity: as instance the transfer of matter from pole to pole of a battery; the fractures caused by the disruptive discharge; the formation of crystals under the influence of electric currents. And whether, conversely, electricity be or be not directly generated by re-arrangement of the atoms of matter, it is at any rate indirectly so generated through the intermediation of magnetism.

(To be continued.)

[RascalPuff]

"How from magnetism the other physical forces result must be next briefly noted—briefly, because in each successive case the illustrations become in great part the obverse forms of those before given. That magnetism produces motion is the ordinary evidence we have of its existence. In the magneto-electric machine we see a rotating magnet evolving electricity. And the electricity so evolved may immediately after exhibit itself as heat, light, or chemical affinity. Faraday's discovery of the effect of magnetism on polarised light, as well as the discovery that change of magnetic state is accompanied by heat, point to further like connections. Lastly, various experiments show that the magnetisation of a body alters its internal structure; and that, conversely, the alteration of its internal structure, as by mechanical strain, alters its magnetic condition.

"Improbable as it seemed, it is now proved that from light also may proceed the like variety of agencies. The solar rays change the atomic arrangements of particular crystals. Certain mixed gases, which do not otherwise combine, combine in the sunshine. In some compounds light produces decomposition. Since the inquiries of photographers have drawn attention to the subject, it has been shown that 'a vast number of substances, both elementary and compound, are notably affected by this agent, even those apparently the most unalterable in character, such as metals.' And when a daguerreotype plate is connected with a proper apparatus, 'we get chemical action on the plate, electricity circulating through the wires, magnetism in the coil, heat in the helix, and motion in the needles.'

The earnest student should think for some months on these facts:—
(1) The genesis of all other modes of force is from chemical action.

(2) "Everywhere throughout the cosmos this truth must invariably hold. Every successive change, or group of changes, going on in it must be due to forces affiliable on the like or unlike forces previously existing"—i.e., all forces manifested at any time must link on to those which went before. This shows one of the necessary conditions of all evolution—viz., continuity.

(3) There is no such thing as matter at rest, absolutely. The molecules of matter are in incessant motion, even in those masses which we think are quite fixed.

(4) There is no such thing as empty space. Matter is everywhere, and is either ponderable or imponderable as ether. This imponderable ether it is which fills up any spaces, whether between the sun and our earth or between the molecules and atoms of which masses of matter are composed.
Recognising always that matter and motion are eternal, we no longer look for a beginning, neither do we look for an end to the universe.
All that we can hope to discover is some hypothesis to account for its changes of form. And this brings us at once to the nebular hypothesis (nebulΠis the plural of nebula, meaning mist or vapour).
NebulÆ are bright patches seen in the sky, consisting either of far-distant stars or of matter in a less condensed state.
"Observations on nebulÆ caused Kant and Laplace to suggest a theory—now known as the nebular theory—as to the formation of worlds. They considered that the solar system, for example, originally existed as uncondensed nebulous matter. This gradually condensed towards the centre, forming the nucleus of the sun, and later the outer portions separated into distinct parts, each part condensing into a planet. The different forms of nebulae observed in the heavens were then supposed to be systems in different stages of development. Although instruments, such as Lord Rosse's telescope, have shown that so many nebulae can be resolved into star clusters, yet, oh the other hand, the spectroscope has shown as that many nebulae do really consist of uncondensed matter."
The theory may also be stated thus:" The solar system existed originally in the form of a nebula, which, by cooling, condensing, and revolving, was formed Into the sun and rings of matter, which latter were consolidated into the planetary bodies; the same is applied also to all the heavenly bodies."
If we assume that matter composing the solar system once existed in a diffused state, we have, in the gravitation of its parts, a force adequate to produce the motions now-going on.
Even those familiar with chemical action cannot imagine the heat which would result from such enormous motions as the theory implies, so that these masses became more than "red-hot" and were in the condition we call molten.
"If It is asked what has become of all that motion which brought about the aggregation of the diffused matter into solid bodies, the answer is that it has been radiated in the form of heat and light."
Geologists conclude that the heat of the earth's still molten centre is but a remnant of the heat which once made molten the entire earth. As the artist of the earth cooled it contracted, and this contraction gave it an. uneven surface. The same condition has been observed in the surfaces of the moon and the planet Venus, "In the sun we haw a still continued production of heat and light,

which must result from the arrest of diffused matter moving towards a common centre of gravity."
Smaller bodies have lost nearly all the produced heat; but the sun, a thousand times as great in mass as the largest planet, is still radiating with great intensity.

Thus all the changes in the earth are either direct or indirect results of the unexpended heat caused by nebular condensation. These changes are usually divided into igneous and aqueous:—
Igneous.—All those disturbances we call earthquakes, the risings and fallings which they produce in the crust of the earth; all those accumulated effects of many such risings and fallings seen in ocean-basins, islands, continents, tablelands, mountain-chains; and all those formations distinguished as volcanic—geologists regard as modifications of the earth's crust produced by the still molten matter occupying its interior.
Aqueous.—The effects of rain, of rivers, of winds, of waves, of marine currents, have a common origin. The river current, bearing its sediment down to the sea, is due to the gravitation of water. The water is there because it fell in the shape of rain.

The vapour was raised to this height by the sun's heat. To the same source are due atmospheric currents and ocean currents.

"Plant life is dependent, directly or indirectly, on the sun. Each plant owes the carbon and hydrogen of which it mainly consists to the carbonic acid and water contained in the surrounding air and earth. The carbonic acid and water must be decomposed before their carbon and hydrogen can be assimilated. To overcome the powerful affinities which hold their elements together, requires the expenditure of force; this force is supplied by the sun.

"Animal life is dependent on vegetable life. The power absorbed by the plant under the shape of light and heat reappears in the movements, internal and external, of the animal.
"The forces which we distinguish as mental come within the same generalisation, for these depend on the nervous system, on the proportion of phosphorus in the brain, and on the supply of blood to the brain. The modes of force which we call motion, heat, light, chemical affinity, can not only be transformed into each other, but they can also be transformed into sensation, emotion, thought."
Those who desire to see proofs of this are referred to Mr. Spencer's First Principles. Here we can only give a few of the leading conclusions to show that the world and all that therein is are one.
So far, the examples used have been of an analytical character; but no number of analytical truths can give us that synthesis (combination) of thought which alone can be an interpretation of the synthesis of things. We need a law which will unite every process that takes place in the universe. In science it is necessary to consider certain processes separately, as in astronomy, geology, biology, sociology. But we cannot imagine that these are really separate. The processes as wholes cannot be unrelated to one another. So the question is, What is the common element in the histories of all concrete processes?
Clearly it must be one that specifies the course of the changes undergone by both the matter and the motion; or, in other words, it must be the law of continuous redistribution of matter and motion.

"The change from a diffused imperceptible state to a concentrated perceptible state is an integration of matter and concomitant dissipation of motion; the change from a concentrated perceptible state is an absorption of motion and concomitant disintegration of matter. These are truisms."
These two opposite processes, taken together, give us the history of every sensible existence, for everything is in progress either towards integration or disintegration.
Evolution is the integration of matter and the dissipation of motion.
Dissolution is the absorption of motion and the disintegration of matter.
Now, the total history of every sensible existence is included in its evolution and its dissolution.
Mr. Spencer gives many proofs of the law that existences of all orders do exhibit a progressive integration of matter and loss of motion, and shows that the components of the mass, while they become integrated, also become differentiated.
In its early stages the condition of matter was simple—as Mr. Spencer styles it, homogeneous. From this simple state it integrates and differentiates, till it has many parts—it proceeds "from the homogeneous to the heterogeneous."
In planets, in organisms, in societies, this law holds good.

(To be continued)

[RascalPuff]

After working out, in many forms, the law of integration of matter and dissipation of motion, he is able to reduce the law of the whole cosmos to this formula:

"Evolution is an integration of matter and concomitant dissipation of motion; during which the matter passes from an indefinite, incoherent homogeneity to a definite, coherent heterogeneity, and during which the retained motion undergoes a parallel transformation."

I hope I have said enough to make clear this all-embracing law.
But as Mr. Spencer is not easy to translate into brief, popular language, I will give a summary of Professor Haeckel's chapter on the evolution of the world from his great book, The Riddle of the Universe. This subject is so important that it is worth running the risk of a little repetition to make it clearer.

Professor Haeckel has placed the world under an immense debt of gratitude by his profound researches into the laws of biology.
He calls the conservation of matter and the conservation of energy "The Law of Substance."

Lavoisier, in 1789, stated the conservation of matter thus: "The sum of matter which fills infinite space is unchangeable."
Mayer established the conservation of energy (the persistence of force) in 1842, which may be thus stated: "The sum of force, which is at work in infinite space and produces all phenomena, is unchangeable."

These two laws are fundamentally one; hence Haeckel calls them the law of substance.

J. C. Vogt, in 1891, put forward a theory that "the primitive force of the world is not the vibration of particles in empty space, but the condensation of a simple primitive substance, which fills the infinity of space in an unbroken continuity."
This theory is called the pyknotic theory—from pyknosis, condensation.
He holds that atoms do not float in empty space, but in the continuous, extremely attenuated, intermediate substance, which represents the uncondensed portion of primitive matter.
He credits these atoms with sensation and inclination in the lowest form, because some agree to condense and some do not.

The condensed portion forms the positive ponderable matter of bodies; the uncondensed portion, the negative imponderable matter—the ether. Between the positive and negative there is a constant struggle.

Whether this theory turns out to be true or not, many of the highest authorities hold that there is but one substance in the universe; and we may conceive the elements as having evolved from this simple primitive substance.

Ether has probably no chemical quality, and is not composed of atoms. It is called imponderable because we have no means of weighing it yet. It is boundless and immeasurable and in eternal motion. The specific movement of ether (vibration, or strain, or condensation) in reciprocal action with mass movement (or gravitation) is the ultimate cause of all phenomena. So we may divide the most general phenomena of nature into two groups: they may be regarded as the function of ether or the function of ponderable matter. This may be called the first division of labour in the development of matter.

After this very bald outline, we may follow Haeckel in his monistic view of the evolution of the world. He holds that the nebular hypothesis "is still the best of all the attempts to explain the origin of the world, etc., on monistic and mechanical lines. It has recently been strongly confirmed and enlarged by the theory that this cosmogonic process did not simply take place once, but is periodically repeated. While new cosmic bodies arise and develop out of rotating masses of nebulÆ in some parts of the universe, in other parts old, extinct, frigid suns come into collision, and are once more reduced by the heat generated to the condition of nebulÆ" (The Riddle of the Universe, p. 245).

He warns us against supposing that the universe had a beginning, and emphasises the fact that "movement is as innate and original a property of substance as is sensation."

"By spectral analysis we have found, not only that the millions of bodies which fill the infinity of space are of the same material as our own sun and earth, but also that they are in various stages of evolution.......We know that the paths of the millions of heavenly bodies are changeable, and to some extent irregular.......We know that the law of substance rules unconditionally in the most distant reaches of space. Through all eternity the universe has been, and is, subject to this law."
From the great progress of the sciences of astronomy and physics we can draw a series of most important conclusions.

"1. The extent of the universe is infinite and unbounded; it is empty in no part, but everywhere filled with substance.

"2. The duration of the world is equally infinite and unbounded; it has no beginning and no end—it is eternity.

"3. Substance is everywhere and always in uninterrupted movement and transformation; nowhere is there perfect repose and rigidity; yet the infinite quantity of matter and of eternally-changing force remains constant.

"4, The universal movement of substance in space takes the form of an eternal cycle or of a periodical process of evolution.

"5. The phases of the evolution consist in a periodic change of consistency, of which the first outcome is the primary division into mass and ether—the ergonomy of ponderable and imponderable matter.

"6. This division is effected by a progressive condensation of matter as the formation of countless infinitesimal 'centres of condensation,' in which the inherent primitive properties of substance, feeling, and inclination are the active causes.

"7. While minute and then larger bodies are being formed by this pyknotic process in one part of space, and the intermediate ether increases its strain, the opposite process—the destruction of cosmic bodies by collision—is taking place in another quarter.

"8. The immense quantity of heat which is generated in this mechanical process of the collision of swiftly-moving bodies represents the new kinetic energy which effects the movement of the resultant nebulÆ and the construction of new rotating bodies. The eternal drama begins afresh. Even our mother earth, which was formed of part of the gyrating solar system millions of ages ago, will grow cold and lifeless after the lapse of further millions, and, gradually narrowing its orbit, will fall eventually into the sun.

"It seems to me that these modern discoveries as to the periodic decay and re-birth of cosmic bodies, which we owe to the most recent advance of physics and astronomy, associated with the law of substance, are especially important in giving us a clear insight into the universal cosmic process of evolution" (The Riddle of the Universe, pp. 247–249).

Excerpted from Chapters 10 thru 12 of Dennis Hird's AN EASY OUTLINE OF EVOLUTION, copyrignt 1903

[Graybeard]

After working out, in many forms, the law of integration of matter and dissipation of motion, he is able to reduce the law of the whole cosmos to this formula:

.................................................. .................................................. ......................

Excerpted from Chapters 10 thru 12 of Dennis Hird's AN EASY OUTLINE OF EVOLUTION, copyrignt 1903

Great posts Rascal .......

"Evolution is an integration of matter and concomitant dissipation of motion; during which the matter passes from an indefinite, incoherent homogeneity to a definite, coherent heterogeneity, and during which the retained motion undergoes a parallel transformation."

Professor Haeckel has placed the world under an immense debt of gratitude by his profound researches into the laws of biology. He calls the conservation of matter and the conservation of energy "The Law of Substance."

Lavoisier, in 1789, stated the conservation of matter thus: "The sum of matter which fills infinite space is unchangeable."

Mayer established the conservation of energy (the persistence of force) in 1842, which may be thus stated: "The sum of force, which is at work in infinite space and produces all phenomena, is unchangeable."

J. C. Vogt, in 1891, put forward a theory that "the primitive force of the world is not the vibration of particles in empty space, but the condensation of a simple primitive substance, which fills the infinity of space in an unbroken continuity." This theory is called the pyknotic theory—from pyknosis, condensation. He holds that atoms do not float in empty space, but in the continuous, extremely attenuated, intermediate substance, which represents the uncondensed portion of primitive matter.

He (Haeckel) warns us against supposing that the universe had a beginning, and emphasises the fact that "movement is as innate and original a property of substance as is sensation."

This is very similar to Dave's Toronics Theory IMO.

cool bananas ... greg

[austintorn@aol.com]

"1. The extent of the universe is infinite and unbounded; it is empty in no part, but everywhere filled with substance.

Yes.

"2. The duration of the world is equally infinite and unbounded; it has no beginning and no end—it is eternity.

Just the universe, but not the world.

"3. Substance is everywhere and always in uninterrupted movement and transformation; nowhere is there perfect repose and rigidity; yet the infinite quantity of matter and of eternally-changing force remains constant.

Conservation laws.

"4, The universal movement of substance in space takes the form of an eternal cycle or of a periodical process of evolution.

Stars form coumpound nuclei and light; light and coumpund nuclei are drawn back into the galactic cores as a recycling; hydrogen is ejected in jets. THis takes 12-18 billion years.

"5. The phases of the evolution consist in a periodic change of consistency, of which the first outcome is the primary division into mass and ether—the ergonomy of ponderable and imponderable matter.

Then 3-4 billion for life to form.

"6. This division is effected by a progressive condensation of matter as the formation of countless infinitesimal 'centres of condensation,' in which the inherent primitive properties of substance, feeling, and inclination are the active causes.

The action of life is a tough question.

"7. While minute and then larger bodies are being formed by this pyknotic process in one part of space, and the intermediate ether increases its strain, the opposite process—the destruction of cosmic bodies by collision—is taking place in another quarter.

At any rate, a cyclic recycling. No Big Bang stuff.

"8. The immense quantity of heat which is generated in this mechanical process of the collision of swiftly-moving bodies represents the new kinetic energy which effects the movement of the resultant nebulÆ and the construction of new rotating bodies. The eternal drama begins afresh. Even our mother earth, which was formed of part of the gyrating solar system millions of ages ago, will grow cold and lifeless after the lapse of further millions, and, gradually narrowing its orbit, will fall eventually into the sun.

And the sun will fall into the galaxy even before it burns out.