Why the sun's rays cannot fully illuminate the earth
Notes and lettered diagrams of solar rays, parallel and crossed, with circles and a sun
A short note argues that the rays issuing from the sun's diameter downward cannot all illuminate the earth, and that the sun's diameter cannot show the earth both its opposite extremes and its middle at once. Around it are geometric diagrams: parallel and crossed rays lettered b m a and o p n, circles marked with points, and a circle emitting luminous rays labelled "Sun." A profile head appears among the constructions. The lettered figures work through the geometry of how solar light spreads to the earth.
On this page
The sun's diameter and the earth's illumination
The rays born from the diameter of the sun downward cannot all illuminate the earth. The sun's diameter cannot show to the earth its opposite extremes, nor its middle.
Parallel and crossed rays; a circle with a sun
On the right a diagram of parallel and crossed rays is lettered b m a and o p n. Below, a circle emits luminous rays and is labelled "Sun," illustrating how the light spreads from the solar body.
Circles marked with lettered points
Two circles at the foot of the sheet are marked with lettered points, one reading a - n, the other m a n and p q o, laying out the construction of the ray geometry.
