MODERN COSMOGONIES

'The world's a prophecy of worlds to come.'—Young

MODERN
COSMOGONIES

BY

AGNES M. CLERKE

HON. MEM. R.A.S.

AUTHOR OF

'A POPULAR HISTORY OF ASTRONOMY DURING THE NINETEENTH CENTURY,'
'THE SYSTEM OF THE STARS,' 'PROBLEMS IN ASTROPHYSICS,'
AND OTHER WORKS

LONDON

ADAM AND CHARLES BLACK

1905

PREFACE

Of the sixteen chapters constituting this little work, thirteen havebeen published as a series, begun in Knowledge and continued inKnowledge and Illustrated Scientific News, and to the proprietors ofthose journals, for their courteous permission to reprint them, I offermy sincere thanks. Three additional chapters, equivalent to, thoughnot identical with, those that now appear, formed an integral partof the original plan of the book, now presented to the public in thehope that it will enable general readers to follow, with the profoundinterest it should inspire, the course of modern inquiries regardingthe origin of the world. Their advance is by no means smooth or facile.Many difficulties and perplexities are encountered in the attempt toget back towards the beginning of things. Some of the old tracks, too,have been torn up by the pioneers of twentieth century science, andthe process of constructing new ones, which shall lead further intothe unknown fore-time, is slow and laborious. But the rail-head in thedesert is a peculiarly suggestive place of pilgrimage, and several suchoutlying posts and temporary halting-places are more or less vaguelylocalized in the following pages.

London, November, 16, 1905.

CONTENTS