In the last hundred years there has been much and very fine and interesting speculation on the part of scientific men & women upon the age and origin of 'our' Earth ... {*} Here in myDi we cannot pretend to give even a summary of such speculations because they involve the most subtle mathematical and physical considerations? {**} The truth is that the physical and astronomical sciences are still too undeveloped as yet to make anything of the sort more than an illustrative guesswork! {**} The general tendency has been to make the estimated age of our globe longer and longer ... {**} It now seems probable that the Earth has had an 'independent' existence as a spinning planet flying round and round the sun for a far longer period than 6,000,000,000 years? IT MAY BE much longer than that! THIS is a length of time that absolutely overpowers myDi's current imagination doesn't IT? {**} BEFORE that vast period of separate existence, the sun and Earth and the other planets that circulate round the sun may have been a great swirl pf diffused matter in space ... {**} The telescope reveals to us {like the microscope?} in various parts of the heavens {inside us too!} luminous spiral clouds of matter ... the spiral nebulae, which appear to be in rotation about a centre ... IT IS supposed by many that the sun and its planets were once such a spiral, and that their matter has undergone concentration into its present form ...... .... ... .. . ~~ ~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~