38 WHAT IS LIFE 



Whether we shall ever be able so to do is unprof- 

 itable to speculate about, though certainly the 

 twentieth century finds relatively few represen- 

 tative scientists who really expect a scientific 

 explanation of life ever to be attained."^ 

 With authoritative pronouncements such as these 

 before one, an attempt to frame a definition of life 

 must appear superlatively foolhardy. It therefore 

 seemed the part of wisdom, and I chose it, to sub- 

 mit my manuscript to a limited number of men pri- 

 vately before seeking a general public hearing for 

 my views. Since my theory of life is built directly 

 upon atomic physics, the first, central and basic re- 

 quirement necessarily is that the views be sanctioned 

 by atomic physics. My question, put to leading 

 specialists in atomic physics, therefore was: "Do you 

 find my views in accord with atomic physics?" To 

 this question I have received affirmative answer from 

 some of the highest authorities in the United States. 

 The granting that the presentation of atomic 

 physics is in conformity with the modern findings, 

 and that my reasoning is valid, is all I ask of any 

 critic. 



To gain the relative completeness of view of the 

 organism which the theory presents, the facts of 

 physical chemistry and numerous other related facts 



^ The Evolution of the Earth and its Inhabitants, 95. 



