An Astronomical Catechism

Author : Catherine Vale Whitwell
Publisher : Theclassics.Us
ISBN 13 : 9781230223261
Total Pages : 82 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (232 download)

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Download or read book An Astronomical Catechism, Or, Dialogues Between a Mother and Her Daughter written by Catherine Vale Whitwell and published by Theclassics.Us. This book was released on 2013-09 with total page 82 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1823 edition. Excerpt: ... CONCLUSION. Having brought before your view, facts so deaf to me, and so desirable, for you to know, I cannot close this work without expressing the constant pleasure I have felt, and the unutterable gratitude I still feel, that I am allowed to lay before you, subjects so majestic, and of such stupendous importance. The universe has appeared to us as the palace of the Deity; and, while we have surveyed nature with the eye of an astronomer, we have seen that nothing can be more splendid, more correct, or more amazing. We have beheld this universe extending infinitely every way, but still cheered and animated by the presence of the great Lord of all. We have beheld immense and shapeless masses of matter, formed into worlds by his power, and dispersed at intervals, to which even the imagination cannot travel. In this great theatre of his glory, a thousand suns, like our own, animate their respective systems, appearing and vanishing at divine command. We have seen our own bright luminary, fixed in the centre of its system, wheeling its planets in times proportioned to their distances, and at once dispensing light, heat, and action. The earth also is seen with its two-fold motion, producing by the one, the change of seasons, and by the other the grateful vicissitudes of day and night. With what silent magnificence is all this performed, with what seeming ease! The works of art are exerted with interrupted force, and their noisy progress discovers the obstructions they receive: but the earth, with a silent steady rotation, successively presents every part of her bosom to the sun, at once imbibing nourishment, and light, from that parent of vegetation and fertility. But not only are provisions of light and heat thus supplied, but its whole...