Astronomy and the Bible;

THEPOWEROFGRAVITATION 55

ing storms." Job 28:26, Douay version. Again:
"Whohathmeasuredthewatersinthehollowofhis
hand,andmetedout heavenwiththespan,andcom-
prehended the dustof the earth in a measure, and
weighedthemountainsinscales,andthehillsinabal-
ance?" Isa.40:12.
Thisisbutoneaspectofthegreatlawofgravita-
tion. Scientists nowseethat anyatom of theuni-
verse is assigned to its place with a recognition of
what effect it will have on every other atom, and
whateffecteveryotheratomwillhaveuponit. With
all otherparts ofthe universeas they are, andthe
earth'sorbitofthesizeandintherelativepositionthat
itis,theweightoftheearthcouldnotbe increased
ormade lesswithout mostserious consequences not
onlytotheearthbuttothewholeuniverse.
Letuslookmore closelyatthis matterfora mo-
ment. Supposetheearthtohaveits presentdistance
fromthesun,anditspresentorbitalvelocityofmotion.
Accordingtothefirstlawofmotion,amovingbody
lefttoitselfmoves foreverina straightHne, witha
uniformvelocity.
Nowtheearthhasbeensetinmotion withavelo-
cityofaboutelevenhundredmilesaminute. Butas
hasbeensaid,iflefttoitself, theearthwould move
inastraightline.
However,theearthdoesnotmoveinastraightline,
butinstead,moves ina pathnearlycircular,orwhat
is calledaclosedorbit. Theattractionofthesunis
theforcethatdeflectstheearth froma straightpath
andgivesitthisorbitaldirection.