
audiobook
by James Croll
STELLAR EVOLUTION
PART I.
PART II.
PART III.
Footnotes
In this thoughtful study the author tackles a fundamental question: what power source fuels the Sun and, by extension, the entire solar system? He contrasts the familiar gravitational explanation with a less‑constrained alternative, drawing on the latest spectroscopic findings about nebulae, meteorites, comets and the motions of stars. By weaving together observations from astronomy, geology and biology, the work sets the stage for a broader theory of how stellar heat has persisted through deep time.
The first section surveys the origins of celestial bodies and the nature of nebular gases, while the second turns to the geological record, using erosion rates and fossil evidence to gauge the Sun’s long‑term energy output. Throughout, the author argues that the heat radiated by the Sun over geological ages exceeds what gravity alone could supply, inviting listeners to follow a compelling blend of empirical data and bold speculation about the universe’s earliest conditions.
Language
en
Duration
~3 hours (194K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Produced by Shaun Pinder and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)
Release date
2015-06-13
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

1821–1890
A self-taught Scottish scientist, he helped change how people understood the Ice Ages by linking long-term climate shifts to changes in Earth’s orbit. His path to science was anything but ordinary, moving through a string of jobs before he earned recognition for work that later influenced modern climate research.
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