CHAPTER XIV 



THE BIRTH OF ELEMENTS 

 Dr R. A. Millikan Discovers how Matter is Created 



IF you look at your face in a looking-glass the image 

 which you see is not quite so distinct as the face itself, 

 this being due to the fact that some of the so-called 

 radiant energy has been transformed by the reflecting 

 glass and converted into heat. If you strike a tuning 

 fork the vibrations die down, partly because they are 

 communicated to the surrounding air, partly because of 

 the production of heat in the metal of the fork itself. If 

 you strike a nail with a hammer only a part of the energy 

 of your blow is employed in driving the nail into the 

 wood, the rest is dissipated in heat. 



All forms of energy tend to take the form of heat, and 

 this heat drifts out into the ocean of atmosphere and the 

 abysses of space, and is apparently lost for any use- 

 ful purpose. Small wonder, then, that the scientists of 

 the nineteenth century came to the conclusion that the 

 universe was like a clock which, after being in some 

 mysterious manner wound up, was running down, and was 

 destined at last to reach a state of equilibrium equiva- 

 lent to death. Everything dies, they said, and suns and 

 worlds are no exception to the rule. 



With the twentieth century came new discoveries. 

 The Curies isolated radium, as told in another chapter; 

 Sir Ernest Rutherford proved that each atom is probably 

 a miniature solar system, with a central sun around which 

 tiny satellites are whirling. The theory of radio-activity 

 was investigated, and it was discovered that radio-active 

 elements were slowly dissipated through their electrons 



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