Laplace Theory of Origin of Solar System
O R I G I N OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM • The earl iest a n d m ost note"'!'orthy scientific expla nation o f t h e origin o f the solar system was developed by the French mathematician Pierre de La place i n 1 796. He imagined a g lobe of hot, g lowing gases in space, rotatin g slowly. As the g lobe con tracted, it rotated faster. The faster rotation caused the g lobe to flatten out i nto a disc, which, as it shrank, left rings of gas a round it. These rings gradu a l ly condensed i nto planets, some with sate l l ites. Laplace's theory, ca l led the nebular hypothesis, left many things unexplained a n d was grad u a l l y abandoned. Even today no theory g ives a wholly satisfactory explana tion of all the observed bodies a n d motions i n the solar system . Some modern astronomers, notably G. P. Kuiper, suggest that as the orig inal solar nebula shra n k, it may
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