The Birth-Time of the World and Other Scientific Essays by John Joly
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of the origin of the Martian "canals." The essay is an abridgment
of two popular lectures on the subject. I had previously written an account of my views which carried the enquiry as far as it was in xiii my power to go. This paper appeared in the "Transactions of the Royal Dublin Society, 1897." The theory put forward is a purely physical one, and, if justified, the view that intelligent beings exist in Mars derives no support from his visible surface features; but is, in fact, confronted with fresh difficulties. _Pleochroic Haloes_ is a popular exposition of an inconspicuous but very beautiful phenomenon of the rocks. Minute darkened spheres--a microscopic detail--appear everywhere in certain of the rock minerals. What are they? The discoveries of recent radioactive research--chiefly due to Rutherford--give the answer. The measurements applied to the little objects render the explanation beyond question. They turn out to be a quite extraordinary record of radioactive energy; a record accumulated since remote geological times, and assuring us, indirectly, of the stability of the chemical elements in general since the beginning of the world. This assurance is, without proof, often assumed in our views on the geological history of the Globe. Skating is a discourse, with a recent addition supporting the original thesis. It is an illustration of a common experience--the explanation of an unimportant action involving principles the most influential considered as a part of Nature's resources. |
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