Book contents
- Frontmatter
- PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION
- PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION
- Contents
- CHAPTER I INTRODUCTORY SKETCH
- CHAPTER II POSITION TAKEN BY THE AUTHORS—PHYSICAL AXIOMS
- CHAPTER III THE PRESENT PHYSICAL UNIVERSE
- CHAPTER IV MATTER AND ETHER
- CHAPTER V DEVELOPMENT
- CHAPTER VI SPECULATIONS AS TO THE POSSIBILITY OF SUPERIOR INTELLIGENCES IN THE VISIBLE UNIVERSE
- CHAPTER VII THE UNSEEN UNIVERSE
CHAPTER III - THE PRESENT PHYSICAL UNIVERSE
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 September 2010
- Frontmatter
- PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION
- PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION
- Contents
- CHAPTER I INTRODUCTORY SKETCH
- CHAPTER II POSITION TAKEN BY THE AUTHORS—PHYSICAL AXIOMS
- CHAPTER III THE PRESENT PHYSICAL UNIVERSE
- CHAPTER IV MATTER AND ETHER
- CHAPTER V DEVELOPMENT
- CHAPTER VI SPECULATIONS AS TO THE POSSIBILITY OF SUPERIOR INTELLIGENCES IN THE VISIBLE UNIVERSE
- CHAPTER VII THE UNSEEN UNIVERSE
Summary
… οἱ οὐρανοì ῥοιζηδòν παρελ∈ύσονται, στοιχεῖα δὲ κανσούμενα, λνθήσονται καὶ γῆ καὶ τἀ ἐν αὐτῇ ἔργα κατακαήσετα.
—Πετρού B′. γ′“The cloud-capp'd towers, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temple8, the great globe itself,
Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve;
And, like this insubstantial pageant, faded,
Leave not a rack behind.”
—Shakespeare,Tempest.“All worldly shapes shall melt in gloom,
The sun himself must die
Before this mortal shall assume
His immortality.”
—Campbell.92. Having in the last chapter briefly indicated the nature of the proposition which we intend to bring forward, we must next study, as a preliminary to further discussion, what science tells us about the present physical universe: what are the general laws to which it is now subject; when and what must have been its beginning; when and what will be its inevitable end.
We have been driven into becoming accustomed to the phrase, “the material universe,” which is generally used in a sense absolutely identical with that which we have chosen as the title of this chapter. We shall soon see that the term is a very inapt one, inasmuch as matter is (though it may sound paradoxical to say so) the less important half of the material of the physical universe.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Unseen UniversePhysical Speculations on a Future State, pp. 69 - 93Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2009First published in: 1875