108 "BECOMING" 



You are given the instantaneous position and velocity* 

 of every molecule, or if you like every proton and 

 electron, in those pieces of chalk and in as much of the 

 table and surrounding air as concerns you. Details of 

 the instantaneous state of every element of energy are 

 also given. By the microscopic (primary) laws of mo- 

 tion you can trace the state from instant to instant. 

 You can trace how the atoms moving aimlessly within 

 the lumps of chalk gradually form a conspiracy so that 

 the lumps begin to move as a whole. The lumps bounce 

 a little and roll on the table; they come together and 

 join up; then the whole piece of chalk rises gracefully 

 in the air, describes a parabola, and comes to rest be- 

 tween my fingers. I grant that you can do all that with- 

 out requiring entropy or anything outside the limits of 

 microscopic physics. You have solved the problem. 

 But, have you quite got hold of the significance of your 

 solution? Is it quite a negligible point that what you 

 have described from your calculations is an unhappen- 

 ingf There is no need to alter a word of your descrip- 

 tion so far as it goes; but it does seem to need an 

 addendum which would discriminate between a trick 

 worthy of Mr. Maskelyne and an ordinary everyday 

 unoccurrence. 



The physicist may say that the addendum asked for 

 relates to significance, and he has nothing to do with 

 significances; he is only concerned that his calculations 

 shall agree with observation. He cannot tell me whether 

 the phenomenon has the significance of a happening or 

 an unhappening; but if a clock is included in the 



* Velocities are relative to a frame of space and time. Indicate which 

 frame you prefer, and you will be given velocity relative to that frame. 

 (This throws on you the responsibility for any labelling of the frame — 

 left, right, past future* etc.) 



