AN ASTRONOMER’S VIEW OF THE UNIVERSE

Summary
This interesting and splendid piece has been extracted from Sir James Jeans ‘The Mysterious Universe’
According to the writer, our earth came into being as the result of an accident. There are countless stars in the
universe. They are more in number than all the grains of sand on all the seashores of the world. A majority of
these stars are so big that millions of earths can be packed up in each of them. This shows the smallness of our
earth. These stars are wandering about in space. They are so away from one another that there is no possibility
of any two stars coming near to our earth or to one another. James Jeans thinks that about two thousands million
years ago, a star wandering blindly through space came near the sun. This star raised huge tides on the surface
of the sun, and ultimately, these tides broke into pieces before the big star would move back. These small
fragments, which fell off, are called planets. They have been circulating round the sun since then. Our earth is
one of these planets. This is how the earth came into being. It was very hot in the beginning but, gradually, it
cooled down.
In due course of time one of these fragments, that is, the earth, gave birth to life. It started in simple
organisms. At this stage, life consisted only of reproduction and death. This was a simple beginning of life. It
developed into a greater complexity, till; at last, human beings were born. Soon they developed emotions and
ambition. The author thinks that the universe was not designed primarily to produce life like our own because
our earth, and the life on it, is so insignificant that the creation of life does not seem to be the purpose of the
universe. Life seems to be only a by-product. The material constituents of life too are quite ordinary chemical
atoms. These atoms must have existed in the newly born earth. But the origin of life is still a riddle, and our
scientists are quite unable to solve it.

Questions & Answers

Q.1: Why is it improbable that one particular star will ever come close to another?
Ans. The stars travel in complete isolation and no star comes within the hailing distance of the other.
Ordinarily, the distance between two stars is well over a million miles from each other. So it is not
probable that one particular star may ever come close to another.

Q.2: What is James Jean’s explanation of how the planets came to be formed from the sun?
Ans. Sir James Jeans is of the view that the earth came into existence some two thousand million years ago,
as a result of some stellar encounter. It so happened that a huge star came within the hailing distance of
the sun, and created huge tides on its surface. This huge tide formed itself into a mountain. When this
star receded, its powerful tidal pull tore off the mountain, and its small pieces fell off into space. These
small fragments are called planets, and our earth is one of them.

Q.3: How does a planet, such as the earth derive its warmth?
Ans. In the beginning, the ejected fragments of the sun, as our earth were very hot. Gradually, they cooled
down and were left with little heat of their own. Now they derive heat only from the radiation, which the
sun pours down upon them.

Q.4: What does Jeans imagine the first forms of life on earth to have been like?
Ans. Sir James Jeans is of the opinion that life on earth started in simple organisms, whose vital capacities
were little beyond reproduction and death.
Q.5: Why are the first impressions of an astronomer’s picture of the universe likely to make us feel that
humanity is insignificant?
Ans. If we closely study an astronomer’s picture of the universe, we find vast meaningless distances in the
universe, and long vistas of time, which dwarf human history to a very insignificant period. The extreme
loneliness of the inhabitants of our earth, and material insignificance of our earth in space make us feel
that humanity is insignificant.

Q.6: How does James Jeans justify his assertion that ‘the universe appears to be actively hostile to life like
our own?
Ans. Life needs suitable physical conditions where substances exist in liquid form. The stars are so hot that
life is not possible there. But outside that zone it is so cold that life would be frozen to death. On these
grounds James Jeans feels that the universe is hostile to life like our own, as we find no planet like our
earth in the universe.

Q.7: Why does a planetary system seem to be the only kind of environment on which life could originate?
Ans. The most important physical condition for life is the temperature, at which substances can exist in the
liquid form. The stars themselves are so hot that all solids melt there, and all liquids boil. Away from
this zone, there is unimaginable cold. So life can originate only on planets like the earth, where its
intrinsic heat has cooled down to a moderate temperature.

Q.8: What is the temperature of the most of space?

Ans. Away from the stars, there is unimaginable cold of hundreds of degrees of frost. Close up to stars, there
is a temperature of thousands of degrees at which all solids melt and all liquids boil.

Q.9: Why does it seem incredible to Jeans that the universe was designed primarily to produce life like our
own?
Ans. Sir James Jeans thinks that the littleness of our home in space and long vistas of time dwarf human
history to an insignificant period. The extreme loneliness of our earth, and rarity of life out side the earth
make us feel that the universe was not designed primarily to produce life like our own, and that life is
simply accidental.

Q.10: Why is the origin of life still a riddle to the scientists?

Ans. The existing view of scientists about the origin of earth is a mere speculation. It is assumed that when
the ejected fragment (ie our earth) cooled down, a group of atoms happened to arrange themselves in the
way in which they are arranged in a living cell. But no one has ever solved the riddle how the
arrangement of dead atoms could become a living cell. It is also yet to be ascertained whether it is
merely atoms, or atoms plus life, that make a living being. So the origin of life is still a riddle to our
scientists.