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 LECTURE V OUR SUN

we have to make perhaps the most important visit of all—a visit, as near as our telescope will allow us, to our Sun. Now, there are three special reasons why the Sun is so very important. In the first place it is the source, as you know, of all the light by which we see, very nearly all of the heat that warms us, and almost of the life that we live. We know how the plants live on sunlight—if there were no sunlight they would die; we know how animals live their lives when the sun is shining: during the night they sleep. On the half of our Earth not illuminated by the Sun the inhabitants are chiefly asleep: certainly most of the animals are asleep; and even human beings, especially children, are mostly asleep; if they do lie awake, they think the night is rather a dreadful time. Perhaps you ave read a poem called "The City of Dreadful Night"? Those who cannot sleep generally long for the daylight. As the Earth turns round they are carried towards the place where the Sun rises; the birds begin to sing, the animals get up and begin to feed; boys and girls get ready for their breakfast and go to school and enjoy themselves, and have dinner about noon and go 192