Richard Clark wrote:
On Sat, 2 Oct 2004 11:51:24 -0500, (Richard
Harrison) wrote:
This comes from "The Handy Science Answer Book" of the Carnegie Library
of Pittsburg.
Hi Richard,
Yes, an answer for the itinerant questioner.
But now for something completely different but wholly within the
purview of light (let's see if they can get this one):
In an infinite universe filled with stars, every line of sight should
eventually meet the surface of a star. The dimming of starlight with
distance should be exactly canceled out by the increase in the number
of stars you see as you look farther out, so the night sky should
appear as bright as the surface of the sun - but it is not.
This paradox, was solved by:
Erle Stanley Gardner
Edgar Allen Poe
Edwin Powell Hubble
Edward Roscoe Murrow
Name the one who coined the paradox for extra credit.
That would be Hubble that solved the paradox, and the initial paradox
was by Heinrich Olbers, although Jean-Phillippe Loys de Cheseaux (jeez
Louise, whatta name!) dabbled in that too. Even Kepler to some extent -
though he took the easy way out and decided the Universe must not be
infinite.
- Mike KB3EIA -