Sir George Darwin (1845-1912) was the second son and fifth child of Charles Darwin. After studying mathematics at Cambridge he read for the Bar, but soon returned to science and to Cambridge, where in 1883 he was appointed Plumian Professor of Astronomy and Experimental Philosophy. His family home is now the location of Darwin College. His work was concerned primarily with the effect of the sun and moon on tidal forces on Earth, and with the theoretical cosmogony which evolved from practical observation: he formulated the fission theory of the formation of the moon (that the moon was formed from still-molten matter pulled away from the Earth by solar tides). He also developed a theory of evolution for the Sun-Earth-Moon system based on mathematical analysis in geophysical theory. This volume of his collected papers covers figures of equilibrium of rotating liquid and geophysical investigations.
Reihe
Sprache
Verlagsgruppe
Cambridge University Press (Virtual Publishing)
Zielgruppe
Illustrationen
ISBN-13
978-0-511-70349-2 (9780511703492)
Schweitzer Klassifikation
Preface; 1. On the influence of geological changes on the Earth's axis of rotation; 2. On Professor Haughton's estimate of geological time; 3. On a suggested explanation of the obliquity of planets to their orbits; 4. Note on the ellipticity of the Earth's strata; 5. On an oversight in the Méchanique Céleste, and on the internal densities of the planets; 6. On the figure of equilibrium of a planet of heterogeneous density; 7. The theory of the figure of the Earth carried to the second order of small quantities; 8. On Jacobi's figure of equilibrium for a rotating mass of fluid; 9. On figures of equilibrium of rotating masses of fluid; 10. Ellipsoidal harmonic analysis; 11. On the pear-shaped figure of equilibrium of a rotating mass of liquid; 12. The stability of the pear-shaped figure of equilibrium of a rotating mass of liquid; 13. On the integrals of the squares of ellipsoidal surface harmonic functions; 14. The approximate determination of the form of Maclaurin's spheroid; On the figure and stability of a liquid satellite; Index.
