Abstract
THE CONSTITUTION OF CELESTIAL SPACE.—M. G. A. Hirn has recently published an able and interesting work, entitled “Constitution de l'Espace Céleste,” in which he inquires into the nature of the medium or agent which establishes and carries on the relationships of the celestial bodies. For all of these, from the most enormous sun to the most infinitesimal meteorite, are in constant relationship to each other, continually attracting each other, continually radiating and receiving light and heat. Newton long ago regarded it as the greatest of absurdities to imagine that one body might act upon another at a distance, through a vacuum, without the mediation of anything else, by and through which their action and force may be conveyed from one to another. Gravity,” he added, “must be caused by an agent acting constantly according to certain laws; but whether the agent be material or immaterial, I have left to the consideration of my readers.”
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Our Astronomical Column . Nature 39, 615–616 (1889). https://doi.org/10.1038/039615a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/039615a0