Rensselaer Journal, Volume 11, Number 8, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 August 1901 — What Are the Bounds of Creation [ARTICLE]

What Are the Bounds of Creation

It may occur to some persons that we cannot conceive of an end of space, and it is hardly likely that infinite space would exist without matter; and hence that the universe necessarily is infinite, says T. J. J. See in the Atlantic. This argument proceeds upon the supposition that we can conceive all things which exist—an admission hardly warranted by experience. For as we can conceive of many things which do not exist, so also there may exist many things of which we can have no clear conception; as, for example, a fourth dimension to space, or a boundary to the universe. Thus while our senses conceive space to be endless, it does not follow that the universe is in reality of infinite extent; much less can the absence of an empyrean prove that the cosmos is finite, even to our experience; for this effect may be due to dust in space, or the uniform absorption of light by the ether. In the exploration of the sidereal heavens it is found that the more powerful the telescope the more stars are disclosed, and hence the practical indications are that in most directions the sidereal system extends on indefinitely. But the possible uniform extinction of light due to the imperfect elasticity of the luminiferous ether, and-the undoubted absorption of light by dark bodies widely diffused in space, seem to forever preclude a definite answer to tho question of the bounds of creation.