The origin of the Earth is a mysterious topic that has been debated by scholars for centuries. However, as science progresses, more information is coming to light. There are two main views on the origin of the Earth: the monotheistic or monistic hypothesis and the pairwise or dualistic hypothesis. Throughout history, several concepts and hypotheses have been proposed, such as Laplace’s Nebula Hypothesis and Kant’s hypothesis in the 18th century, Lakier’s meteor hypothesis and Ligandi’s meteorite hypothesis in the 19th century, and James, Jeans, and Jaffray’s tidal hypothesis, Chamberlin and Molton’s planetary hypothesis, Atomic hypothesis, Russell and Littleton’s hypothesis, and Home’s hypothesis in the 20th century.
In modern times, several hypotheses have been proposed, including Von Weijser and Queir’s hypothesis, Fasten Kove’s hypothesis, Physico-classical Afven’s hypothesis, and Drobyshevsky’s Jupiter-Sun, the duality hypothesis.
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Monotheistic or monistic hypotheses
The origin of the Earth is a subject that has been debated by different scholars with varying views. As science progresses, the mystery of the Earth’s origin is slowly being unraveled, and there are two main hypotheses on this subject: the monotheistic or monistic hypothesis and the pairwise or dualistic hypothesis.
There have been various concepts proposed throughout history, starting with the 18th century when Laplace’s Nebula Hypothesis and Kant’s hypothesis were put forth. In the 19th century, there were Lakier’s meteor hypothesis and Ligandi’s meteorite hypothesis. In the 20th century, James, Jeans, and Jaffray’s tidal hypothesis, Chamberlin and Molton’s planetary hypothesis, the atomic hypothesis, Russell and Littleton’s hypothesis, and Home’s hypothesis were all proposed. In modern times, Von Weijser and Queir’s hypothesis, Fasten Kove’s hypothesis, Physico-classical Afven’s hypothesis, and Drobyshevsky’s Jupiter-Sun duality hypothesis have been presented.
The monotheistic or monistic hypothesis suggests that the origin of the Earth is related to a single star. Scholars who support this idea propose that the solar system’s origin is a result of a single star. This hypothesis was first put forth by the French scholar Buffon and was later supported by Kant, Laplace, Lockier, Hershel, and Rosé.
(1) Dr. Buffon’s hypothesis
Dr. Buffon’s hypothesis, which was presented in 1745 AD, suggests that a very large tail star rotating in the universe passed close to the Sun, causing the two to collide. After this collision, a lot of matter was separated from the Sun, and this material eventually condensed over time to form planets and satellites. The larger portions of matter that came out of the Sun became planets, and the smaller portions became satellites.
Criticism –
Critics of this hypothesis argued that all bodies in space revolve in their respective orbits, making it impossible for a giant tail to start to collide with the Sun in the second orbit. They also suggested that the collision of a tail star with a giant Sun is not significant enough to separate a lot of matter from the Sun. Additionally, the Sun’s attraction power is so strong that it would immediately absorb any ejected material, making it impossible for it to separate from the Sun.
Even if the molten material did separate from the Sun, critics questioned how it became spherical and how dynamic motion arose in the resulting planets and satellites. Buffon also failed to explain the order in which the planets and satellites were formed with the Sun. Finally, the mass, diameter, and immense attraction power of the Sun make it impossible for a tail star to collide with it and cause the events Buffon proposed.
In conclusion, while the monotheistic or monistic hypothesis may have seemed plausible in its time, it has been thoroughly criticized by modern scholars, and alternative hypotheses have been proposed to explain the origin of the Earth.
(2) Kant’s Gaseous Hypothesis
After Buffon’s hypothesis, the famous German philosopher Immanuel Kant proposed a hypothesis regarding the origin of the earth in 1755 AD. Kant said, “Give me matter, and I will show you the origin of the earth.” Based on Newton’s law of gravitation, Kant stated that every object is attracted toward the earth, and in centrifugal force, every object tries to move away from the Earth. According to Kant’s view, in the beginning, hard particles made of various mythical substances were spread all over the world and the sky. These particles gathered together due to gravity and started colliding with each other. The heat generated by these collisions turned the particles into a liquid state and then into a gaseous state. The gaseous mass began to rotate when it became concentrated. Due to this constant rotational motion, the centrifugal force increased more than the gravitational force, creating a bulge in the central part of the gaseous mass. Nine circular rings formed in this bulge, which separated to form the nebula. These became the Navagrahas and their additional satellites, while the remaining part became the Sun. Thus, the solar family was formed. Later on, this hypothesis was proven to be irrational because it was based on an incorrect mathematical rule.
Criticism –
- Firstly, there is an error in this hypothesis that the primitive particles started colliding with each other due to the gravitational force. It is unclear how this power was hidden earlier and how it manifested later.
- Kant also confirmed that the collision started due to mutual excursions of the atmospheric proto-knows. Due to this collision, the force of gravity became stronger, but according to the “principle of protection of angular momentum” of dynamics, the reciprocating motion of particles cannot be created due to the collision of atmospheric primitive particles. Due to the mutual collision of different parts, there can be no change in their speed of rotation.
- Kant also stated that with the increase in the size of the rotation of the nebula, the speed also increased. This rule is contrary to the above principle because, in the principle of stability of cellular momentum, it has been stated that if the size of the object increases, then its speed decreases. Additionally, if the speed increases, the size decreases. According to this principle and law, Kant’s imagination is proved wrong.
- This hypothesis of Kant gained so much credit that the scholar who followed him, Laplace, based his famous theory on it.