I
When we were told by a prominent scientist just the other day that
"electricity is now known to be molecular in structure," it almost took
our breath away. And when we were informed that certain well-known
chemical elements had been detected in the very act of being changed
over into other well-known elements, with the prospect of such a
transformation of the elements being quite the normal thing throughout
nature, the very earth seemed to be slipping away from under our feet.
Some of the closely related discoveries, such as the fact that the
X-rays show a spectrum susceptible of examination, were not so
disconcerting in themselves; but the marvellous pictures of the
structure of the atom elicited by these discoveries made many good
people almost question whether our venerable experimenters had not been
indulging in pipe dreams amid their laboratory work.
Do we, then, begin to understand the real composition of matter? Does it
have component parts, in the materialistic sense; or is what we call
_matter_ only a mysterious manifestation of energy? And if the latter
be our answer, can we hope to settle the problem objectively and so
conclusively that it will stay settled? In short, do we, regarding these
border-line subjects between metaphysics and natural science, know
anything more than our fathers and our grandfathers?
It will be convenient to consider these problems under two heads: the
composition of matter, and the origin of matter.