--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Pack, Frederick J. collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 13 number: 12 published: 1910-10 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: "Pack, Frederick J., “The Creation of the Earth,” *Improvement Era* 13, no. 12 (October 1910): 1121–1128." source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera13012unse transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers. identifier: improvementera13012unse start_page: 1121 end_page: 1128 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1910-10) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera13012unse publication_year: 1910 note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1910, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # The Creation of the Earth 1120 IMPROVEMENT ERA. gospel character, to qualify them for their future, be it along the lines of literature, mechanism, science, art, or otherwise, suited if possible, to the capacity' and natural endowment of each child. To see that the home is supplied with a class of literature — besides that which is sacred— the tendency of which is essentially elevat- ing. To choose for their companions, among those of the!r own sex, those who are not only moral and intellectual, but spiritual withal. We should also provide legitimate and consistent amuse- ments, to fill a want which every child desires to have gratified. It is imperative that every father should set an example of righteous conduct, thus giving strength and power to every verbal instruction along religious lines. In short, he should exhibit such love and affection that will bind the child to parent and home. With your duty thus faithfully discharged, let one or more of your sons wilfully break loose from these moorings and wander away, he then becomes wholly responsible, and in due time, like the scriptural prodigal, he will humbly return to the family hearth- stone and receive forgiveness — the key of which every faithful father holds, and can turn for his son's salvation. The prophet Joseph said, concerning children born under the covenant, "When a seal is set upon the father and the mother, it secures their posterity so that they cannot be lost, but will be saved by virtue of the covenant of their father and mother." It would be cruel in the extreme to lay a son's imprudence and wrong-doing at the door of a faithful parent. As well might we make our Heavenly Father responsible for the iniquity of the "Son of the Morning;" or our Prophet Joseph responsible for the lack of faith and persistent opposition exhibited in the conduct of his sons. A just judgment comes from God alone. In conclusion, let me say the most potent influence that can be brought to bear upon our sons is that which originates in the home. The auxiliary organizations are important factors, which we consider indispensable, and are strong supporters of the home. Let this labor of love be commenced and continued around the family hearth, which will be met with a heart and soul response by our covenant born sons, thus solving fully and entirely the problen, "What shall we do witlTour boys?" The Creation of the Earth. BY FREDERICK J. PACK, A. M., PH. D., DESERET PROFESSOR OF GEOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF UTAH. II. The following brief outline is intended only as a synopsis of the essential features of the principal hypotheses of earth origin. Lack of space has necessarily crowded out all detailed explana- tion, and in some cases even generalities are omitted. In most instances the bare conditions only are given, with little or no attempt to present the reasons therefor. It, of course, will be borne in mind that these hypotheses are not the result of idle minds. They have been worked out only through years of careful and intense application. Every feature presented has been bolstered up by careful deduction and wherever possible by observation. Hypothe- ses, of course, are not laws. Time only can prove whether they are true or untrue. They constitute the indispensible scaffold work used by the builders in constructing the great storehouse of scientific knowledge. HYPOTHESES OF EARTH ORIGIN.— THE LAPLACIAN OR " NEBULAR" HYPOTHESIS. The first definitely stated hypothesis of earth origin was that postulated by Laplace, near the beginning of the last century. It assumes that the matter now comprising the solar system was once in an extremely heated, gaseous condition, and in the form of a vast spheroid, extending beyond the present limits of Neptune, our most remote known planet. It is further assumed that this enormous mass was rotating in the same direction as the present 1 122 IMPRO VEMENT ERA . system. The origin of this mass was not postulated by Laplace, but has since been referred to the collision of pre-existing celestial bodies. The extreme tenuity or rarity of the material compris- ing this great spheroid is worthy of note. It will be recalled that Neptune is practically 2,775,000,000 miles distant from the sun, which means that the original spheroid would have a diameter of 5,550,000,000 miles. If the matter comprising our solar system were expanded into a mass of this size, the average density of the mateiial would be but a small fraction of a millionth of the density of our atmosphere at the earth's surface. Professor Moulton has calculated the average density of the mass, when expanded to the orbit of Neptune, to be 1-240,000,000 of the aver- age air at the surface of the earth. The hypothesis further holds that the gradual loss of heat by radiation resulted in contraction. According to certain definitely known laws of dynamics this shrinking would result directly in an increased rotation of the mass. It appears that a balance would soon be reached when there would be no further shrinkage in the equatorial portion. The polar regions, however, in which the cen- trifugal force (a) approaches zero, but in which the centripital force remains practically constant, would continue to contract, and thus the spheroidal mass would draw away from the equato- rial portion, forming a ring resembling, perhaps, those of Saturn. (a) The centrifugal force is well shown in the throwing of water from a rotating wheel, and in the "pull" exerted by a mass attached to a string, and revolved at a considerable velocity. The force necessary to restrain the mass from flying off at a tangent is termed the centripital force. This hypothesis assumes that the parent mass continued to cool and contract until additional rings, equalling in number the present planets, were left behind. It further assumes that the sun now constitutes the shrunken remnant of the original spheroid, after the various planetary rings had been formed. It is further held that as these rings cooled, they parted at their weakest points and each collected into a hot, gaseous spher- oid, not unlike the parent mass, and that these in turn, through cooling and shrinkage, gave rise to rings which evolved into the satellites of our present planets. THE CREATION OF THE EARTH. 1123 With respect to our own planet, it is believed that the mate- rial now comprising it and its satellite, the moon, was separated from the original spheriod at a somewhat late stage in the forma- tion of rings, the chronological order supposedly having been Neptune, Uranus, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Earth, Venus and Mercury. It is assumed that the earth-moon ring also collected into a hot, gaseous spheroid, which in turn gave rise to a ring now condensed into the moon. It was held by the original Laplacian hypothesis that the material comprising the earth, even after the separation of the moon ring, was in an exceedingly hot, gaseous condition. This continued to cool and to shrink, passing first through a liquid, and finally into its present state. It is postulated that the initiation of solidification began on the surface, which early resulted in the formation of a "crust" overlying a highly-heated liquid interior. At this stage a hot, gaseous atmosphere is supposed to have existed. As the result of further cooling it is assumed that the "crust" thickened, and that the heavier constituents of the atmosphere condensed and added to the outer portions of the earth. This condition of a highly heated interior is believed by the adherents of the hypothesis to have persisted to the present time, and in support of this Belief they point to the enormous quantities of liquid lava ejected through volcanic openings. By way of summary the following stages may be noted: A highly heated, rotating, gaseous nebula, spheroidal in form, and extending beyond the present orbit of Neptune; cooling accompanied by con- traction,resulting in an increased rotation; cessation of contraction in equatorial portion, but continued contraction in polar portion, resulting in the separation of a ring at the equator; continued cooling and shrinkage, resulting in the formation of rings equal in number to that of our planets; the breaking of the rings at places of least resistance, each forming a gaseous spheroidal planet, some- what resembling the parent nebula; cooling and contraction of planets, forming the satellite rings, which in turn broke and formed the satellites or moons; cooling of the planet with the appearance of the original solid crust, and accompanied by a highly heated gaseous atmosphere; continued cooling, resulting in the present condition of a supposed liquid interior enveloped by a 1124 IMPROVEMENT ERA. solid "crust," with contemporaneous modification of the at- mosphere. Serious doubts have recently arisen concerning several of the more or less important features of this hypothesis. It is, for instance, no longer held that the earth is a liquid mass enveloped in a comparatively thin but solid crust. On the contrary, the earth acts in almost every way very much like an extremely rigid mass. Latest developments, however, in seismological observa- tions, especially in the transmission of earthquake waves, lead to the belief that there may be some small portions of the earth's interior in a plastic or viscous condition, but it is' by no means believed that the interior is wholly liquid, as originally postulated by the nebular hypothesis. Grave doubts have also recently been cast upon several of the mechanical features of the hypothesis. It should be said, however, that many men of science still hold this hypothesis in some form or other, usual]y, however, very much modified. THE METEORIC HYPOTHESIS. It is a matter of common observation that fragments of metallic and stony matter enter the upper atmosphere nightly in great numbers, and that they occasionally reach the surface of the earth in solid form. This naturally gave rise to the sugges- tion that the earth may have arisen through the accumulation of meteoric particles. There appears, however, to be very little foundation for belief in the meteoric hypothesis in this form. Lockyear and George H. Darwin have presented some scholarly ideas pointing to a belief in the origin of the solar sys- tem from meteoric sources. But as the methods of accumulation do not materially differ from those outlined in the Laplacian hypoth- esis, we shall not go into further detail. It should, perhaps, be stated that the meteoric hypothesis, even in its best form, is not generally held by scientists. THE PLANETESIMAL HYPOTHESIS. The latest addition to our knowledge of earth origin is that embodied in the planetesimal hypothesis as announced by Cham- berlain and Moulton. Research, extending over a period of many THE CREATION OF THE EARTH. 1125 years, has convinced Chamberlain that the Laplacian hypothesis is seriously at fault, especially with respect to the mechanical way in which the solar system was evolved. Several other differences will also appear as the new hypothesis is outlined. For a full discussion of this work the reader is referred to Vol. II of Chamberlain and Salisbury's Geology, 1906. The authors of the new hypothesis find through astronomical observation that the prevailing type of nebula is spiral in form, and not spheroidal as assumed by Laplace. It is further observed that these spiral forms are composed of thinly attenuated nebulous material, interspersed here and there with denser portions called knobs, the nucleus or central knob being the largest. Revolu- tion takes place around this central mass. The planetesimal hypothesis postulates that the solar system was originally in the form of one of these spiral nebulae, and that the planets now occupy the positions of the original knobs. It further holds that the material comprising the nebula was in a cold, discrete condition, and that the accumulation of the material around these knobs took place by "overtake" rather than by "collision." The velocity of the nebulous particles appears to be such that if they were to collide they would be volatilized at once through the force of the impact. By means of overtake, the velocity of impact would be greatly reduced, and, therefore, accu- mulation made possible. The increase in size of the nuclei, or knobs, would be accompanied by an increase in temperature. This would be the result of two factors: firstly, the impact of incoming particles, and secondly, compression immediately attendant upon increase in size. It is worthy of note here that the Laplacian and the Planetesimal hypotheses differ materially with respect to temperature changes. The former holds to a constantly decreas- ing temperature, while the latter postulates an increasing temper- ature, contemporaneous with the planetary evolution. In a few words, then, it may be stated that the Planetesimal hypothesis assumes that the solar system was originally in the form of a great spiral nebula, that the accumulation of cold nebul- ous material around the nuclei gave rise to the planets, that the planets increased in temperature with size, and that they now revolve in the orbits originally marked out by the spiral knobs. 1126 IMPROVEMENT ERA. The satellites are explained to be the result of independent accu- mulation around nuclei subsidiary to the planets to which they belong. * * * * % Some further interesting differences in the two principal hypotheses may be pointed out. It has already been seen that they differ materially as to the temperature at various stages of planetary evolution. The Laplacian hypothesis originally held to a liquid interior, enveloped in a solidified portion called the crust. This, as already noted, would be impossible according to the Plane- tesimal hypothesis. It is not, however, out of harmony with the latter view to hold that the interior of the earth is highly heated, in fact, this is now practically a demonstrated fact. According to Laplace's hypothesis, the atmosphere has from the beginning formed a covering for the inner and more solid particles. Its composition has changed very materially through the various stages of planetary evolution, and is now composed of the final unconsolidated residuum. Chamberlain believes that the constituents of the atmosphere were originally included in the earth-stuff, and have subsequently been forced to the surface through the rise in temperature. Laplace's views would hold to a constantly decreasing atmosphere, and Chamberlain's to an increasing one. The Laplacian hypothesis derives the ocean water, or hydro- sphere, through precipitation from the atmosphere, while the Planetesimal hypothesis holds that all surface water has come from the interior, primarily forced out by the increasing pressure and temperature. The most recent investigation along this line seems to support Chamberlain rather than Laplace. * * * ■# * From the foregoing statement of differences it maybe thought that the two hypotheses are almost at complete variance. This, however, is not the case. They both derive the solar system from a parent nebula, which in turn, both agree, may have been derived through the collision or close approach of previously existing celestial bodies. They both postulate the rapid movement of matter, especially during the early stages of planetary evolution. THE CREATION OF THE EARTH. 1127 They both hold to the appearance of the oceanic bodies at a rather late stage in the formation of the planetary masses. And they both hold that the interior of the earth is much more highly heated than is the surface. The differences, therefore, are largely matters of detail in methods of accumulation. The bearing of many of the facts upon the subject of the Creation of the Earth will be emphasized in the following article. The Cry of Dolores. [Written for the Improvement Era by Mary S. Farnsworth, in honor of Mexico's Centennial day, September 16, 1910.] With joy we meet to bless the day, That heard Dolores' cry, And marks the century passed away That flung truth's pennon high. To honor those who nobly bled In freedom's glorious cause, With brave Hidalgo at their head, To crush a tyrant's laws. Three centuries 'neath a foreign power, In bondage worse than death, Induced brave souls at that sad hour To seek sweet freedom's breath, By casting off the tyrant's yoke, So long and meekly borne, Whose galling bonds, like thongs of oak, Their quivering flesh had torn. Their precious blood flowed not in vain, Which dyed their native sod, But shadowed forth a glorious reign, To lift them from the clod. God bless our Chieftain now in power, Loved Diaz, brave and true, 0 lengthen out his mortal hour! His health and strength renew.