This issue constitutes quite a melange of articles. Inspired by a controversy over the ballistic theory of light (that light is really made up of tiny particles shot out from light sources), that double stars may have multiple appearances throughout their orbits and that their orbital speeds should be irregular, Professor James Hanson (emeritus, Cleveland State University) takes up the mathematical challenge in what is, by far, this issue's most technical article. What does the article show? It shows that for most stars, there would not be any multiple images associated with their orbits, if their distances from earth is as large as commonly believed. For short-period cases, such as Alpha Aurigae (Capella), multiple images may be possible or lie just under the range of detectability. The implication is that, in that situation, the conditions are so close to that needed for multiple images that the speed of the smaller star should radically depart from what would be expected from a gravitational orbit. This is not observed.

In a separate article, Professor Hanson tackles the question of whether Sir Isaac Newton was a Unitarian. That he was such is commonly claimed today, but the evidence is purely circumstantial, based on friends and acquaintances, business associates, and a tract found in his files after his death—a tract which he did not write. Insofar as the latter is concerned, I have tracts written by Mormons, Hare Krishnas, and Jehovah's Witnesses, but that does not mean I subscribe the least to any of their unitarian beliefs. As far as Newton's refusal to take a position at Trinity College was concerned, it is presumed today that he refused it because he wasn't a trinitarian, but the evidence favors the possibility that he was a Baptist who did not subscribe to the Anglican view required for the Trinity College appointment. Professor Hanson finds no evidence to convict Newton of unitarianism.

Timothy Unruh continues his survey of the solar system with an installment on the planet Venus, outlining its role in the Copernican Revolution, and presenting a summary of what we have learned about Venus from landers and the Venus orbiter. He concludes the article with the place that the planet Venus occupies in the Bible.

Finally, we have a backlog of “Panorama” notes which we have collected over the past year. These focus on evidence in astronomy and earth science for a young creation and a geocentric creation.