Cosmos: a Sketch of a Physical Description of the Universe, Volume 4 |
What people are saying - Write a review
We haven't found any reviews in the usual places.
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
according already appear Arago astronomical atmosphere belong bodies called Cape causes central century clouds clusters color comets Compare consequently considerable considered cosmical Cosmos dark density determined diameter directed discovered discovery disk distance Earth eccentricity eclipse entirely existence expressed fall feet fixed four geographical give greater heat heavens inclination increase intensity interior Jupiter known latter less light luminous March Mars mass mean measurements mentioned Mercury meteoric miles Moon mountains nature nearly nebulæ Neptune observations opinion orbits origin Outlines passage period phenomenon planetary planets polar poles portion position present principal probably reference reflected region relations remarkable revolving ring rotation round satellites Saturn says seen Sir John Herschel situated small planets solar southern space stars Sun's surface telescope third tion Uranus Venus views visible whole zone
Popular passages
Page 74 - And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
Page 50 - But at the close of the fifteenth and the beginning of the sixteenth centuries, they were so abundant that their insincerity can scarcely be doubted.
Page 23 - Of these a great number have been resolved into distinct stars, and a vast multitude more have been found to present that mottled appearance which renders it almost a matter of certainty that an increase of optical power would show them to be similarly composed. A not unnatural or unfair induction would therefore seem to be, that those which resist such resolution, do so only in consequence of the smallness and closeness of the stars of which they consist ; that, in short, they are only optically,...
Page 40 - ... whose mottled and curdling light evidently indicates by a sort of granular texture its consisting of stars, and when examined under the great light of Lord Rosse's reflector, or the exquisite defining power of the great achromatic at Cambridge, US, is evidently perceived to consist of clustering stars. There can therefore be little doubt as to the whole consisting of stars, too minute to be discerned individually even with these powerful aids, but which become visible as points of light when...
Page 40 - Trapezium, forming the square front of the head, is shown with 18-inch reflector broken up into masses, whose mottled and curdling light evidently indicates by a sort of granular texture its consisting of stars; and when examined under the great light of Lord Rosse's reflector or the exquisite defining power of the great achromatic at Cambridge, US, is evidently perceived to consist of clustering stars. There can therefore be little doubt as to the whole consisting of stars, too minute to be discerned...
Page 183 - at the same time possess the smallest mass, and occupy the largest space of any bodies in the solar regions ; in their number, also, they exceed all other planetary bodies, except, perhaps, aerolites, amounting to many thousands at least.
Page 129 - It follows from the theorem of Lambert, that the quantity of heat which is conveyed by the Sun to the Earth is the same during the passage from the vernal to the autumnal equinox as in returning from the latter to the former: The much longer time which the Sun takes in the first part of its course, is exactly compensated by its proportionately greater distance, and the quantities of heat which it conveys to the Earth are the same while in the one hemisphere or the other, north or south.
Page 215 - And afterward they fell from the sky in such numbers, and so thickly together, that as they descended low in the air, they seemed large and fiery, and the sky and the air seemed to be in flames, and even the earth appeared as if ready to take fire. That portion of the sky where there were no stars, seemed to be divided into many parts, and this lasted for a long time.
Page 37 - Asterismos duos subscribere placuit, ut ab eorum exemplo de caeteris iudicium feras. In primo integram Orionis Constellationem* pingere decreveram; verum ab ingenti Stellarum copia, temporis vero inopia, obrutus, aggressionem hanc in aliam occasionem distuli...
Page 23 - In accordance with my promise of communicating to you the result of our examination of Orion, I think, I may safely say, that there can be little, if any doubt as to the resolvability of the Nebula. Since you left us, there was not a single night when, in absence of the moon, the air was fine enough...
Bibliographic information
| Title | Cosmos: a Sketch of a Physical Description of the Universe, Volume 4 Cosmos: a Sketch of a Physical Description of the Universe, Alexander von Humboldt |
| Author | Alexander von Humboldt |
| Translated by | Elise C. Otté, Benjamin Horatio Paul, William Sweetland Dallas |
| Publisher | Harper & Brothers, 1868 |
| Original from | the University of Michigan |
| Digitized | Sep 27, 2007 |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |