THE POSITION OF OUR SOLAR SYSTEM
Reading edition
It has been maintained that our solar system is at, or very near, the center of the whole Universe. Certain it is that the further we proceed into space, the less the number of stars encountered, which has given rise to the suspicion that their number is actually limited, and that the whole Universe consists of a sort of sphere, in which is enclosed all the stars that exist, and that, beyond this sphere, no stars whatever remain. No matter exists beyond this point! Such a view fits in rather well with Einstein’s conception of “curved space,” and a finite universe of infinite proportions! Of course, it is conceivable that, outside this vast system, another similar system may exist, and another and still another; but of such systems we know nothing, and it seems improbable that proof of their existence could ever be obtained by man. So far as we can tell, the universe is One, and the matter and energy of that one are limited.