Mathematical theories of the Earth
Year: 1889
Type: article
Abstract: THE name of this section, which, by your courtesy, it is my duty to address to-day, implies a community of interest among astronomers and mathematicians.This community of interest is not difficult to explain.We can of course imagine a considerable body of astronomical facts quite independent of mathematics.We can also imagine a much larger body of mathematical facts quite independent of and isolated from astronomy.But we never think of astronomy in the large sense without recognizing its dependence on mathematics, and we never think of mathematics as a whole without considering its capital applications in astronomy.Of all the subjects and objects of common interest to us, the earth will easily rank first.The earth furnishes us with a stable foundation for instrumental work and a fixed line of reference, whereby it is possible to make out the orderly arrangement and procession of our solar system and to gain some inkling of other systems which lie within telescopic range.The earth furnishes us with a most attractive store of real problems; its shape, its size, its mass, its precession and nutation, Its internal
Source: American Journal of Science
Author: R. S. Woodward
Language: English
Subfield: Oceanography
Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2319045409