"Rock falling from the sky"
retouched detail from Emblema XII of
Michael Maier's Atalanta Fugiens (1617)

Sculpting Uncarved Block The Uncarved Block tumbled out of nowhere— some say dark matter, black hole, white hole, worm hole— doesn't matter, it's spinning wildly around the fiery Sun as all the heavenly deities tried their hands to tame this rugged rock. Jupiter struck with thunderbolts Saturn carved with his scythe Mars slashed with his sword Pluto dug caves with his mad dog Venus caressed it with her kisses Neptune filled the valleys with rain Mercury waved his wingèd wand and at last the rock was made smooth. Urania played her lyre and all danced to the music of the spheres to celebrate the birth of this planet which they called Earth. — Peter Y. Chou     Mountain View, 2-12-2010