NATURE PROTECTS HER CREATION

     One of those often repeated stories is that a falling of an apple from a tree, under which he was resting, triggered the chain of thoughts within the mind of a physicist and mathematician that lead him to discover the law of gravity. We all probably known that the individual who brought about the scientific revolution in the 17th century with his Laws of Gravity and other notable discoveries was Sir Isaac Newton. May I suggest my readers to sit under a shady tree with a big a juicy ripe orange, in their left hands. Slowly start peeling your oranges with the right hand and at the same times try to stimulate your chains of introspection and deliberation. Just for an example; 

• What if the nature had some how failed or overlooked to provide a protective covering or a skin to the juicy fruit that you are about to feast upon and relish? 
• What are the possibilities of such a "naturally unprotected" orange, apple, or banana, ever finding a spot to sit on the grocery shelves of your super market? 
• Would you buy a fruit that has abodes for creepy crawly pests? 
• Does our Earth, which looks very much like the shape of a peeled orange, has also a protective covering? 

Here is what the scientists have discovered. Below are a few excerpts from Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia Deluxe, 1998 edition:

    The Earth, man's home, is a planet. It moves around the sun in a regular orbit, as do the eight other planets in the solar system. Each of the solar planets has special characteristics, some of which are well known to both scientists and the public in general. Saturn, for example, is surrounded by a set of rings, and Jupiter is famous as the largest planet in the solar system. The Earth also has special characteristics, and these are important to man. It is the only planet known to have the right temperature and the right atmosphere to support the kind of life man knows. 
  
     Some scientists believe that millions of planets in the Milky Way, the galaxy that contains the Earth, may be able to support life. But no one can predict the forms that such life might take. An indication of just how difficult such a prediction might be is illustrated by the vast variety of life forms on Earth. Many millions of kinds of plants and animals have developed on the Earth. They range in size from microscopic plants and animals to giant trees and mammoth whales. Distinct types of plants or animals may be common in many parts of the world or may be limited to a small area. Some kinds thrive under conditions that are deadly for others. So some persons suggest that forms of life quite different from those known on Earth might possibly survive on planets with conditions that are far different from conditions on Earth. 

       Many persons believe that the Earth is the only planet in the solar system that can support any kind of life. Scientists have theorized that some primitive forms of life may exist on the surface of Mars, but evidence gathered in 1976 by unmanned probes sent to the Martian surface seems to indicate that this is unlikely. Scientists at one time also believed that Venus might support life. Clouds always hide the surface of Venus, so it was thought possible that the temperature and atmosphere on the planet's surface might be suitable for living things. But it is now known that the surface of Venus is too hot --an average of 800o F (425o C)-- for liquid water to exist there. The life forms man is familiar with could not possibly live on Venus. 

      The Earth has excellent conditions for life. The temperature is cool enough so that liquid water can remain on the Earth's surface. In fact, oceans cover more than two thirds of the surface. But the temperature is also warm enough so that only a small fraction of this water is permanently frozen--near the North and South Poles and on some mountaintops. 

     The Earth's atmosphere is dense enough for animals to breathe easily and for plants to take up the carbon dioxide they need for growth. But the atmosphere is not so dense that it blocks out sunlight. Although clouds often appear in the sky, on the average enough sunlight reaches the surface of the Earth so that plants flourish. Growing plants convert the energy of sunlight into the chemical energy of their own bodies. This interaction between plants and the sun is the basic source of energy for virtually all forms of life on Earth. 

      Although the atmosphere allows sunlight to reach the Earth's surface, it blocks out certain portions of solar radiation, especially X rays and ultraviolet light. Such radiation is very harmful, and, if the atmosphere did not filter it out, probably none of the life forms on Earth could ever have developed. So, the necessary conditions for these life forms--water, the right kind of atmosphere, and the right amount and kind of sunlight--exist on the surface of the Earth. The Earth is the only planet in the solar system known to have all of these "right" conditions." 
                                                         (end of excerpts)

And We made the heaven a roof strongly upholden; yet turn they away from its signs.
        Translation by Reverend J. M. Rodwell

And We set up the heaven as a roof well-protected; yet still from Our signs they are turning away. 
                          Translation by Arthur J. Arberry

And We have made the heavens as a canopy well guarded: Yet do they turn away from the Signs which these things (point to)!             Translation by Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Transliteration:   wa- jacalnaa as- samaa' saqf(an) 
mah.foz.(an) wa- hum can 'aayaat -haa mucrid.on
                      (Qur'an 21: 32)

• A "roof" that is secure enough and will not to fall upon the Earth. 
• A "roof" that protects us the Earth like a shield.

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