The Earth has a mass of 5.972 × 10 24 kg and moves around the Sun at a speed of 30,000 meters per second. The temperature at its center is around 5,200o Celsius.
Earth is a thing with these qualities. I’ve never particularly cared about the planets, but one night I sat at the dinner table with a man who studies the wobble of the Earth. I asked what exactly he does to study that phenomenon – he analyses many GPS sites to find a solution for the entire planet. A solution, in this context is a formula that all the data fit. He loooks at the whole in order to solve his problem – which is not the exclusive purview of nerdy geophysicists but is also our problem, that of the everyday ’Joe’. Our use of navigation systems depends on knowing where the satellites are in relation to spots on the earth. Hence, we have to know how much and in what direction we are wobbling at any moment.
I feel a bit of affection for a planet that wobbles. The fact that it makes smile means a wobbling Earth is part of my world view.