Last Updated on September 16, 2022
When did scientists discover the earth hangs on nothing? In 1650, the National Museum of Natural History showed that the earth once rested on an enormous animal, but now we know that the earth is free-floating in space. However, the question is, when did the discovery become public knowledge? What happened to the man who first recognized the free float of the earth? Read on to learn the real story.
Edwin Powell Hubble
Edwin Powell Hubble, a bright and talented young man, discovered that the earth hangs on nothing. Although he studied mathematics, astronomy, and philosophy at the University of Chicago, he also played basketball for the school. He earned an undergraduate degree in 1910, and went on to study at Oxford University, where he majored in jurisprudence and Spanish. He was a student of law at the University of Chicago, but later returned to his original studies in astronomy.
While in Germany, Hubble picked up some decorative dueling scars, but it was not until 1953 that he became a major. In the meantime, he married the woman who was the daughter of a powerful Los Angeles banker. She had married a leading geologist named Earl Leib, who died in a mining accident. They were married in 1924, and settled in San Marino, California. In 1926, they moved to Mount Wilson Observatory, which he had established there.
A few years later, Hubble’s paper was published, and he did not attend the meeting. A few years later, Joel Stebbins recalled Hubble’s paper and the era of enlightened cosmology had begun. Hubble’s discovery would help us understand how the universe works. He married Grace Burke on February 26, 1924. The discovery would change the course of science and human history.
Hubble had studied both Roman and English law at Oxford. After graduating in 1913, he returned to the United States, passed the bar exam in Kentucky, and practiced law for a year. However, the discovery led him to return to Oxford in 1914 and study astronomy. Stephen Hawking also wrote about Hubble’s discovery. And this is where the true story of Hubble’s life began.
Edwin Williams
It was 1779 when Edwin William’s experiments led to the discovery that the earth is suspended in space. It was a huge discovery for astronomers. Now we can see the heavenly bodies from space and understand how they came into existence. Edwin Williams is also the first scientist to discover that the earth hangs on nothing. His findings helped shape our understanding of gravity and the universe.
Evidence for the earth’s curvature
If you believe that the Earth is curved, you can check for it by flying high enough to observe it. Flying at the height of the International Space Station (ISS) will give you a line of sight of 235 miles, which covers 3.4 degrees of earth’s surface. If you fly at the height of the Andes, however, your line of sight will be only ten miles, which is just under 19 percent.
Ancient Greek philosopher Eratosthenes found empirical evidence when he visited the Egyptian city of Syene. Residents there noticed that the sun reflected off the bottom of the well. However, they did not observe any shadows on the tall buildings in Alexandria. Eratosthenes calculated the circumference of the Earth by analyzing the reflected images of the Sun from water. This was the first catoptric proof of the Earth’s curvature.
In addition to the moon and stars, the moon can show us that the Earth is curved. This is because the shadow of the Earth crosses the face of the moon. The shadow is curved because the Earth is spherical. The shadow of the moon is also round. Hence, the earth must be curved. Aristotle’s observations were very useful in proving the Earth’s spherical shape.
Observations made by humans have also led to new findings. For example, the effect of curvature on light can be seen in a merry-go-round. When a woman in the merry-go-round throws a ball counter clockwise, the ball appears to curve to the right. This is due to the Coriolis effect. The Coriolis Effect also causes the rotation of cylones. Hence, long-range military snipers are required to account for the effect of the Coriolis force.
Evidence for its free float in space
The evidence for Earth’s free float in space has many sources. One of the most interesting is from the oceans, which rise and fall in an almost never-ending rhythmic cycle. The Sun and Moon are the primary cause of ocean tides. In the same way, free particles in proximity to Earth are also affected by the same influences. As a result, vertically separated particles gradually decrease in separation over time. This is also the case for free-floating test masses: the thin spattering of these particles eventually becomes an egg-shaped shape. Further studies will confirm if they are indeed free-floating.
There’s a new way to test the hypothesis that planets may be “free-floating” in deep space. Astronomers have discovered 70 “free-floating planets” in the Milky Way region. The discovery of these “free-floating planets” has raised the possibility of Earth-mass planets circling distant stars without being attached to them. A study led by Iain McDonald of the University of Manchester has now confirmed that these planets are indeed free-floating in space.
About The Author
Fernánda Esteban is a food fanatic. She can't go more than a few hours without eating, and she loves trying new foods from all over the world. Her friends know that they can always count on her for a good conversation, and she's an animal lover who will never turn down an opportunity to pet a dog or cat. Fernánda also enjoys learning about random facts, and she's a social media practitioner who loves to share what she knows with others.