TO
HER DEAR CHILDREN,
BY THEIR AFFECTIONATE MOTHER,
MARY SOMERVILLE.
Florence, Nov. 1, 1858.
CONTENTS.
Introduction
Page [1]
SECTION I.
Attraction of a Sphere—Form of Celestial Bodies—Terrestrial Gravitation retains the Moon in her Orbit—The Heavenly Bodies move in Conic Sections—Gravitation Proportional to Mass—Gravitation of the Particles of Matter—Figure of the Planets—How it affects the Motions of their Satellites—Rotation and Translation impressed by the same Impulse—Motion of the Sun and Solar System