The Utter Inadequacy of Most Theories.

Now if you examine a hundred of the latest works on Astronomy, you will be amazed at the suggestions that still remain current. You will find that, of all the innumerable theories that have been proposed, two alone suggest any reasonable source for the amazing quantities of energy released. Of these two theories, one depends on the annihilation of matter, either during the formation of helium and other elements from hydrogen, or when protons and electrons rushing together are supposed to be changed from mass into radiant energy. But these rather hypothetical processes are said to take place at a more and more rapid rate as the temperature rises. It is difficult, therefore, to envisage any stopping place. If such a change were once started in a star it should go on at an increasing rate until the star is annihilated. This does not agree with the normal history of a Nova. Whenever one appears where a star has been photographed before, the final state is found to be slightly brighter than the original.