Abstract
WHEN the age of the sun is discussed, it is often assumed that Kelvin asserted quite dogmatically that the age of the sun could not exceed 20,000,000 years. It is well, however, to turn to his own words on ” The Age of the Sun's Heat” in a lecture printed in Macmillan's Magazine in 1862 and reprinted in his ” Popular Lectures and Addresses” (vol. 1), published by Messrs. Macmillan and Co. On p. 368, he wrote that it seemed most probable that the sun had not illuminated the earth for 100,000,000 years and almost certain for not exceeding 500,000,000 years. ” As for the future, we may say, with equal certainty, that inhabitants of the earth cannot continue to enjoy the light and heat essential to their life, for many million years longer, unless sources now unknown to us are prepared in the great storehouse of creation.” The concluding words display the prescience of this great man of science, much of whose work has now become so familiar that we have forgotten that it had ever to be brought into being.
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TURNBULL, C. Kelvin and the Age of the Sun. Nature 136, 761 (1935). https://doi.org/10.1038/136761a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/136761a0
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