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Permissive Limits of Ignorance and Belief in the United States
Thesedrawing-roomastronomersprofessedtoexplainthecharredaspectofthemoon—adisasterwhichtheyattributedtotheintensityofthesolarheat;only,onbeingremindedthatcometshaveanatmosphere,andthatthemoonhaslittleornone,theywerefairlyatalossforareply.
Othersagain,belongingtothedoubtingclass,expressedcertainfearsastothepositionofthemoon.Theyhadhearditsaidthat,accordingtoobservationsmadeinthetimeoftheCaliphs,herrevolutionhadbecomeacceleratedinacertaindegree.Hencetheyconcluded,logicallyenough,thatanaccelerationofmotionoughttobeaccompaniedbyacorrespondingdiminutioninthedistanceseparatingthetwobodies;andthat,supposingthedoubleeffecttobecontinuedtoinfinity,themoonwouldendbyonedayfallingintotheearth.However,theybecamereassuredastothefateoffuturegenerationsonbeingapprisedthat,accordingtothecalculationsofLaplace,thisaccelerationofmotionisconfinedwithinveryrestrictedlimits,andthataproportionaldiminutionofspeedwillbecertaintosucceedit.So,then,thestabilityofthesolarsystemwouldnotbederangedinagestocome.
Thereremainsbutthethirdclass,thesuperstitious.Theseworthieswerenotcontentmerelytorestinignorance;theymustknowallaboutthingswhichhadnoexistencewhatever,andastothemoon,theyhadlongknownallabouther.Onesetregardedherdiscasapolishedmirror,bymeansofwhichpeoplecouldseeeachotherfromdifferentpointsoftheearthandinterchangetheirthoughts
