William Whiston
William Whiston
1667-1752
English mathematician whose New Theory of the Earth (1696) sought rapprochement between Newtonian science and the Biblical account of Creation. According to Whiston, Earth was originally a comet whose eccentric orbit was made circular by God; until the Flood, Earth possessed no diurnal rotation and its poles were perpendicular to the ecliptic. Finally, a comet guide by God penetrated Earth's surface, causing the waters of the abyss to overflow, shifting the poles, and imparting axial rotation.
More From encyclopedia.com
Hollow Earth , Edmund Halley (1656–1742) is best known for having calculated the orbit of a comet that passes by Earth every 76 years. The comet known as Halley's m… Earth , Imagine that you are describing planet Earth to someone who has never seen it. How would you describe its appearance? What would you say about it? Wh… Thomas Burnet , Burnet, Thomas
Burnet, Thomas
cosmogony, geology.
Little is known of Burnet’s family or early childhood other than that his father was John Burnet an… Historical Geology , CONCEPT
Geologists are concerned primarily with two subjects: Earth's physical features and the study of the planet's history. These two principal br… Terrestrial Planet , Skip to main content
terrestrial planet
terrestrial planet, the earth or a planet that resembles the earth in its physical characteristics. The terre… Planetary Science , CONCEPT
The term planetary science encompasses a whole range of studies involving a combination of earth sciences and astronomy. Sometimes known as p…
You Might Also Like
NEARBY TERMS
William Whiston