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The Earth and the Universe.

From the astronomer we learn


that most of the fixed stars are possibly the suns of other systems
resembling our own, but in many cases vastly larger. From
him we also learn that the heavens are filled with unknown
numbers of such systems. Hence follows the conclusion not
only that the earth is one of the smaller members of the solar
system but that the solar system is itself one of the numerous
systems that fill the immensity of space. With this in mind it
is possible to realize that i/ie eartJi is an exceedingly small part
of tJie created nniverse.
The subordinate position of the Solar System is strongly suggested by the
face that, under the influence of the other suns of the universe, it appears to
be moving through space in the direction of the constellation Hercules.

M.-S. PHVS. GEOG.

II. THE SHAPE, SIZE, AND DENSITY OF THE


EARTH
Shape of the Earth. As inhabitants of the earth we are
greatly impressed with its surface irregularities. What a contrast between lofty summits of the Andes or Himalaya mountains

Diagram illustrating the Curvature of the Earth


and the depths of the ocean basins! Can a body exhibiting
so many and so great inequalities fall within the boundary

Diagram illustrating the Curvature of the Earth by the Increased


Range of Vision in ascending a Height

of a regular geometric form ? We are merely suffering from


the nearness of the view. Could we station ourselves on the

SHAPE OF THE EARTH

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moon, then as we beheld the earth, its surface irregularities


would no longer confuse us. In comparison with the whole

they would sink into insignificance, and the earth would appear
as a great rounded globe or sphere not varying in its general
shape from the other planets.
There is ample proof that the surface of the earth is curved.
I. Watch ships as they sail seaward. Do they not pass over a curved
surface as their hulls, then their sails, and lastly their topmasts, disappear f
rom
view ?

An Eclipse of the Moon


From photograph by G. W. Ritchey, Yerkes Observatory.
Partial phase of the total eclipse of October 16, 1902, 10: 33 P.M. The margin o
f
the earth's shadow is curved.

2. Stand at the foot of a hill overlooking a plain and note the boundary
line or limit of vision. Now climb to the summit and note the increased
range of vision. Were the earth flat, this would not occur.
3. Observe the curved margin of the earth's shadow during an eclipse of
the moon.
The sun, earth, and moon being now in the same straight line, the shadow
of the earth extends in the form of an elongated cone far beyond the orbit of
the moon. That body, in the course of its movement, cuts this shadow which

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THE SHAPE, SIZE, AxMD DENSITY OF THE EARTH

obscures its face. While the margin of the shadow is ill defined, it is, nevertheless, sufficient to show the general curvature of the surface.
That the earth is of a spherical shape is also shown
1. By voyages and journeys " round the world."'
2. By the measurement of arcs of great circles.
3. By the fact that the horizon when viewed from a high point rising above
a level plain, as from a tower or the summit of a hill, is always circular, a
property belonging only to spherical bodies.
The Earth an Oblate Spheroid.
The particles of a rotating
body tend to fly off in straight lines. This tendency is called

centrifugal force.
Gravitation tends to
make a mass spherical. These two
forces combined
have caused the
earth, which is somewhat plastic and
elastic, to assume a
slightly flattened
spherical form called
an oblate spheroid.
Its longest diameter
is nearly 7927 miles
and its shortest diameter nearly 7900
miles. Its greatest
circumference is
about 24,900 miles,
its smallest circumference about 24,860
miles, and the area of
its surface 197 millions of square miles.

Diagram for demonstrating the Spheroidal


Form of the Earth
The horizon when viewed from a high point, A, B, or C,
is a circle

The oblateness of the earth is shown by the fact that although the weight
of a body on its surface is nearly constant, it is slightly greater in high
latitudes.

DENSITY OF THE EARTH

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