Abstract
M Woolfson discusses theories of how the Sun and the planets began.
The heliocentric nature of the solar system with its major components — the Sun, planets and satellites — was firmly established well before the end of the 17th century. After the publication of Newton's Principia in 1687 it became possible to apply scientific principles to the problem of its origin.
Most theories that have been advanced in the last 300 years are obviously untenable, but some contain the germs of what might be part of a viable theory. It would not be practical to attempt to deal with all theories in detail in a short review article. Here we shall mention five theories, recently developed or still in the process of development, that have a reasonable scientific basis. Two of them, the Solar Nebula Theory and the Capture Theory, will be described in more detail, emphasizing what they have and have not explained and what their remaining difficulties are. Two early theories will be described first, chosen because they relate closely to the extant ones and illustrate the major problems for theories.
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