Published: July 27, 1933

Copyright The New York Times

EARTH FORCES LAID
TO COSMIC IMPULSE
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Dr. Heim Presents a New
Theory of Mysterious Energy
Acting Upon the World.
NO HERITAGE OF THE SUN
Only Thus Can Enormous
Changes Be.Accounted For,
He Tells Geologists.
By \l1ILLIAM L. LAURENCE.
Spec1a1 to Tm: NKW YORX Tnms.
W ASIDNGTON, July 26. - A
theory postulating the existence of
mysterious cosmic impulses outside
the earth, which accelerate its rota-
tion in the manner of a grown-up
giving a push to a child in a. swing,
was proposed here today before the
International Geological Congress.
The "cosmic impulse theory., was
presented here for the first time by
Dr. Arnold Heim. Swiss geologist
and Alpine authority, a. member of
the Swiss Federal Council, the
Swiss Academy of Sciences and I
other scientifio societies.
Only by assuming the existence
of these outside cosmic impulses
which periodically furnish the earth
with enormous extra stores of
energy, Dr. Heim stated, can many
phenomena which are puzzling
geologists and other scientists be
adequately explained.
This new and hitherto unsuspect-
ed source of energy influencing the
earth, Dr. Heim asserted, is the
only possible way for explaining the
movements of the crust, the ob-
served changes in the velocity of
rotation, changes in the internal
position of the axis, changes in the
position of the ecliptic, and other
observed phenomena for which no
adequate explanation bas been
found.
Combined With Sun's Energy.
After showing "the impossibility
of deriving the great crustal move-
ments of the earth exclusive1y from
the store of energy received by the
earth from the sun," Dr. Heim de-
velops his hypothesis in which he
attributes "the observed accelera-
tions in tha velocity of rotation, to-
gether with the great and irregular
polar displacements <1Ur1ng geologic
time, to cosmic impulses."
combined with the energy in-
herited by the earth from the sun,''
Dr. Heim. stated, "these cosmic im-
pulses from outside the earth must
have caused the crustal move-
ments.,,, He presented arguments
in which he pictured- the enormous
energy involved in such changes as
the observed accelerations in the
earth's velocity ol rotation as well
as in the irregular polar displace-
ments, and pointed to the coinci-
dence of these changes with periods
of great tectogenetic disturbances.
No such enormous energies, hear-
gued, could be accounted for by the
sun and the moon, or any source
on the earth itself. _,.
"Until about the end of the last
century," Dr. Heim said, "our
knowledge of. the structure of the
earth's crust was satisfactorlly ex-
plained by the elastic theory of con-
traction by progressive cooling ot
the interior. However, extensive
geological field work and geo-
physical research or this century
have resulted in the discovery of
numerous facts which are in con-
tradiction to this general concep-
tion.
Source of Energy a Puzzle.
'
1
Among the many excellent re-
cent on the origin of
mountain formation and the crustal
movements as a whole. the most
writers must finally con-
fess that vrte are in the presence of
nn puzzle as to a source
ot Yast energy,
' \, riters regard the energy
i;ources of the earth's crustal move-
ments as of terrestrial origin. They
amply speak of the effect5 of grav-
ity of isostasy, o! retardation of
the earths rotation by tidal fric-
tion.
"All the forces which have waved,
lifted, folded, crumpled, thrust and
faulted the earth's crust, and
caused the magmatic dis-
placements and volcanic actions,
seem to be regarded as the result
of the earth's energetic reserve.
Jf so, each crustal movement
should mean a lessening of the
total reser\e ot the earth's energy,
so that succeeding crustal move-
ments should be smaller in magni-
tude than earlier ones in geologic
time. This does not seem to be
borne out by the facts:
The change in the speed of the
earth's rotation and the internal
eisplacement of its axes, Dr. Helm I
holds, is the result of energy of
cosmto origin. These changes, in .
turn, are responslb1e for the great-
er part of the dislocations o! the
earth s crust.
Earth Not Slo"Iy Dying.
Thus, Dr. Heim concluded. our
earth is assumed not to be a s10\\"IY
dying planet, consuming the rem-
nants of energy left to it as a
legacy from the sun. It must have
received fresh cosmic impulses. :
'vhich. combined '\'\ .. ith the energy I
inherited from the sun, are thought 1
to have caused the crustal mo'\"e- j
men ts.
"If it ts a fact: he said. "that
1he rotational Yelocity is variable
.?.nd not only retarding, and that
the axes in relation to the crust
ha'\e been displaced on a large scale
during geologic time, there seems
to remain no way to explain these
changes as due solely to terrestrial
energy.
"If so, such changes of rotation
must have a cosmic origin, al-
though the Newton to explain them
has not yet come.
"\Vith the h:nprovement In astro-
nomic instruments, similar phenom-
ena may be discovered on neighbor-
ing planets."
The earthquake Dec. 20, 1932, at
Cedar Mountain, Nev., is still in
progress and is one of the largest
Parthquakes to be recorded in the
lTnited States, the congress was
told by Dr. Vincent P. Gianella. of
the University of Nevada and Dr.
Eugene Callaghan of the United
Geological Survey.
Since its beginning more than
seven months ago, they said, the
Intermittent -shocks have been felt
oYer a total area of a million square
miles. The biggest shock of the
came on New Year's Eve, but
fortunately it occurred in a very
sparsely populateCI. section, and no
pne was killed. Only a :tew cabins


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