1877-1946

English astrophysicist best known for his popular books on astronomy and physics. Jeans made significant contributions toward the understanding of stability in rotating masses and was the first to propose matter's continual creation throughout the universe (1928). He also put forward the now defunct "tidal" theory of the solar systems' origin. According to this theory, the gravitational pull of a passing star drew out a filament of solar debris that subsequently condensed into the planets.