Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Philosophical Foundations of Science pp 227–256Cite as

The Case for a Hierarchical Cosmology

Recent Observations Indicate that Hierarchical Clustering is a Basic Factor in Cosmology

  • Chapter

  • 187 Accesses

Part of the book series: Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science ((BSPS,volume 11))

Abstract

Once upon a time philosophers and cosmographers insisted that the motions of the planets must be circular and uniform. An irrelevant aesthetic concept of ‘perfection’ and a more valid mathematical need for simplicity were at the root of this long-held error. Nowadays, theoretical cosmologists insist that the large-scale distribution of galaxies most be homogeneous and isotropic, and most astonomers believe that the expansion of the universe is linear and isotropic and that it proceeds at a uniform rate measured by the Hubble ‘constant’ H.1, 2

In questions of science the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual.

Galileo Galilei

True knowledge can only be acquired piecemeal, by the patient interrogation of nature.

Sir Edmund Whittaker

Reprinted with kind permission from Science 167 (1970) 1203–1213.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   169.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. See, for example, W. H. McCrea, Science 160 (1968) 1295; H. Y. Chiu, Sci. J. 4 (1968) 33.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. H. Bondi, Rep. Progr. Phys. 22 (1959) 97.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. W. Davidson and J. V. Narlikar, ibid., 29 (1966) 541.

    Google Scholar 

  4. F. Hoyle, Quart. J. Roy. Astron. Soc. 10 (1969) 10.

    Google Scholar 

  5. E. P. Hubble, Astrophys. J. 79 (1934) 8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. H. Shapley, Bull. Harvard Coll. Observ. No. 880 (1932) 1; F. Zwicky, Astrophys. J. 86 (1937) 217.

    Google Scholar 

  7. F. Zwicky, Publ. Astron. Soc. Pac. 50 (1938) 218.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. C. D. Shane and C. A. Wirtanen, Publ. Lick Observ. 22 (1967) Part 1.

    Google Scholar 

  9. F. Zwicky, Morphological Astronomy, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 1957.

    Google Scholar 

  10. F. Zwicky, Publ. Astron. Soc. Pac. 64 (1952) 247.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. G. de Vaucouleurs, in Stars and Stellar Systems, vol. 9 (ed. by A. R. Sandage) Univ. of Chicago Press, Chicago; Astron. J. 72 (1967) 325 (abstract).

    Google Scholar 

  12. F. Zwicky et al., Astrophys. J. 137 (1963) 707; ibid. 141 (1965) 34; ibid. 142 (1965) 625; ibid. 146 (1966) 43.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. F. Zwicky and K. Rudnicki, Z. Astrophys. 64 (1966) 246.

    Google Scholar 

  14. G. O. Abell, Astrophys. J. Suppl. 3 (1957) 211.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. G. D. Abell, Astron. J. 66 (1961) 607; ibid. 72 (1967) 288.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. I. D. Karachentsev, Astrofizika 2 (1966) 307; [English translation in Astrophysics 2 (1966) 159].

    Google Scholar 

  17. G. de Vaucouleurs, Astron. J. 58 (1953) 31; Vistas in Astronomy, vol. 2, Pergamon Press, London, 1956, p. 1584; Sov. Astron. 3 (1960) 897.

    Google Scholar 

  18. G. de Vaucouleurs, Astron. J. 66 (1961) 629.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. G. de Vaucouleurs and W. L. Peters, Nature 220 (1968) 868.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. E. Holmberg, Ann. Lund Observ. 6 (1937) 52; A. Reiz, ibid. 9 (1941) 65; R. L. Carpenter, Publ. Astron. Soc. Pac. 73 (1961) 324.

    Google Scholar 

  21. G. de Vaucouleurs, Astron. J. 63 (1958) 253.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. G. de Vaucouleurs, Nature 182 (1958) 1478.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. G. de Vaucouleurs, Publ. Dep. Astron. Univ. Tex. Ser. I 1No. 10 (1966).

    Google Scholar 

  24. E. K. Conklin, Nature 222 (1969) 971.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. T. Kiang, Monthly Notices Roy. Astron. Soc. 135 (1967) 1.

    Google Scholar 

  26. T. Kiang and W. C. Saslaw, ibid., 143 (1969) 129.

    Google Scholar 

  27. H. Shapley, The Inner Metagalaxy, Yale Univ. Press, New Haven, 1957.

    Google Scholar 

  28. G. de Vaucouleurs, Astrophys. J. 131 (1960) 585.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. J. Neyman, T. Page, and E. Scott (eds.), Proceedings of the Conference on Instability of Systems of Galaxies [Astron. J. 66,No. 1295, (1961) 533]; D. N. Limber, Int. Astron. Union Symp. 15, Santa Barbara, Calif, 1961 (1962), 239.

    Google Scholar 

  30. T. L. Page, Smithsonian Astrophys. Observ. Spec. Rep.195(1965).

    Google Scholar 

  31. E. F. Carpenter, Publ. Astron. Soc. Pac. 43 (1931) 247; Astrophys. J. 88 (1938) 344.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. C. V. L. Charlier, Ark. Math. Astron. Fys. 4 No. 24 (1908); ibid. 16 No. 22 (1922); Medd. Lund Observ. No. 98 (1922).

    Google Scholar 

  33. J. T. Yü and P. J. E. Peebles, Cal. Inst. Tech. Orange Preprint Ser. No. 168 (1969); Astrophys. J. 158 (1969) 103.

    Google Scholar 

  34. W. M. Irvine, Ann. Phys. 32 (1965) 322; J. Kristian and R. K. Sachs, Astrophys. J. 143 (1966) 379; R. K. Sachs and A. M. Wolfe, ibid. 147 (1967) 73.

    Google Scholar 

  35. M. L. Humason and H. D. Wahlquist, Astron. J. 60 (1955) 254.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. F. Hoyle and J. V. Narlikar, Monthly Notices Roy. Astron. Soc. 123 (1961) 133.

    Google Scholar 

  37. M. J. Rees and D. W. Sciama, Nature 217 (1968) 511.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. J. R. Wertz, thesis, University of Texas.

    Google Scholar 

  39. A. G. Wilson, Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci U.S. 52 (1964) 847. Astron. J. 70 (1965) 150; ibid. 71 (1966) 402; ibid. 72 (1967) 326.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  40. A. G. Wilson, in Hierarchical Structures (ed. by L. L. Whyte, A. Wilson, and D. Wilson), American Elsevier, New York, 1969, p. 113 [see also T. Page, Science 163 (1969) 1228; A. G. Wilson, ibid. 165 (1969) 202].

    Google Scholar 

  41. J. A. Wheeler, Annu. Rev. Astron. Astrophys.4(1969) 393.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  42. E. Schatzman, White Dwarfs, Interscience, New York, 1958.

    Google Scholar 

  43. C. W. Allen, Astrophysical Quantities, Athlone Press, London, 1961, p. 203.

    Google Scholar 

  44. A. Poveda, Bol. Tonantzintla No. 17 (1958) 3; Bol. Tonantzintla No. 20 (1960) 3.

    Google Scholar 

  45. I. King, Astrophys. J. 134 (1961) 272.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  46. G. de Vaucouleurs, Monthly Notices Roy. Astron. Soc. 113 (1953) 134.

    Google Scholar 

  47. R. Minkowski, Int. Astron. Union Symp. 15, Santa Barbara, Calif, 1961 (1962) p. 112.

    Google Scholar 

  48. G. de Vaucouleurs, Astrophys. J. 131 (1960) 265; ibid. 137 (1963) 373.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  49. K. J. Gordon, Astrophys. J. 169 (1971) 235–270.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  50. S. T. Gottesman, R. D. Davies, and V. C. Reddish, Monthly Notices Roy. Astron. Soc. 133(1966) 359.

    Google Scholar 

  51. E. M. Burbidge, G. R. Burbidge, and R. A. Fish, Astrophys. J. 133 (1961) 393, 1092; ibid. 134(1969) 251.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  52. J. C. Brandt and R. G. Roosen, Astrophys. Lett. 156 (1969) L59.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  53. G. R. Burbidge and E. M. Burbidge, Astrophys. J. 130 (1959) 15; ibid. 134 (1961) 244.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  54. G. de Vaucouleurs, ibid. 130 (1959) 718.

    Google Scholar 

  55. G. de Vaucouleurs, Astrophys. J. Suppl. Ser. 6, No. 56 (1961) 213.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  56. T. Kiang, Monthly Notices Roy. Astron. Soc. 122 (1961) 263.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Texas, Austin, USA

    G. De Vaucouleurs

Authors
  1. G. De Vaucouleurs
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Raymond J. Seeger Robert S. Cohen

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 1974 D. Reidel Publishing Company, Dordrecht-Holland

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

De Vaucouleurs, G. (1974). The Case for a Hierarchical Cosmology. In: Seeger, R.J., Cohen, R.S. (eds) Philosophical Foundations of Science. Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science, vol 11. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-2126-5_14

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-2126-5_14

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-90-277-0376-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-010-2126-5

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation