From: Loren Haarsma (lhaarsma@calvin.edu)
Date: Tue Sep 23 2003 - 14:47:31 EDT
I recall reading that when Isaac Newton calculated the orbits of the
planets, he believed that they would become unstable after a few hundred
or thousand years due to mutual gravitational attraction; that Newton
proposed that God occasionally sent comets through the solar system with
just the right mass and trajectories to correct these instabilities; and
that LaPlace eventually showed that planetary orbits were stable for much
longer periods of time.
Does someone know of a published reference for this? All I can find so
far is page 91 of Colin A. Russell's "Cross-currents: Interactions Between
Science and Faith" (InterVarsity Press), and that doesn't give
much detail.
Thank you.
Loren Haarsma
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