Subject: [HM] Olbers' paradox
From: Don Cook (tdctdc@surfsouth.com)
Date: Mon Mar 20 2000 - 14:32:08 EST
Dear John,
From the excellent book"The Measure of the Universe", J.D. North, Clarendon
Pr. Oxford, 1965.
"Another objection to an infinitely extended universe had been raised,
perhaps independently, by the astronomers P.L. Cheseaux in 1744 and H.W.M.
Olbers in 1823. They calculated that if the universe contained infinitely
many bright stars the night sky would shine with a brightness corresponding
to their average surface brightness. ...(some calculations are given)...
Continuing this argument it is clear that the sky should be filled
completely with radiance as bright as that from the Sun... (even without
an infinite universe)."
North then states some of the solutions to the paradox by astronomers.
North further comments "Actually Edmund Halley had hinted at the paradox
more than a century before Olbers, but his solution is confused."
Don Cook
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