﻿THE 
  NEW 
  COAL 
  AGE 
  — 
  SLOSSON 
  251 
  

  

  a 
  sloping 
  channel 
  or 
  an 
  empty 
  pipe. 
  To 
  transport 
  electricity 
  from 
  

   a 
  point 
  of 
  high 
  potential 
  to 
  a 
  point 
  of 
  low 
  potential 
  requires 
  no 
  

   power. 
  The 
  current 
  will 
  flow 
  downhill 
  of 
  its 
  own 
  accord 
  if 
  you 
  will 
  

   only 
  provide 
  it 
  with 
  what 
  is 
  for 
  it 
  an 
  empty 
  pipe, 
  that 
  is, 
  a 
  copper 
  

   wire. 
  And 
  the 
  electric 
  current 
  will 
  travel 
  far 
  faster 
  than 
  the 
  coal 
  

   train 
  or 
  the 
  flowing 
  stream. 
  So 
  the 
  efforts 
  of 
  inventors 
  are 
  now 
  con- 
  

   centrated 
  on 
  methods 
  of 
  increasing 
  the 
  mobilit}^ 
  of 
  energy 
  by 
  such 
  

   means 
  as 
  converting 
  coal 
  into 
  a 
  liquid 
  form, 
  or 
  converting 
  its 
  energy 
  

   into 
  the 
  electrical 
  fluid. 
  

  

  Trhe 
  greatest 
  scientific 
  achivement 
  of 
  the 
  nineteenth 
  century, 
  in 
  the 
  

   opinion 
  of 
  those 
  who 
  lived 
  in 
  that 
  century, 
  was 
  the 
  formulation 
  of 
  

   two 
  fundamental 
  physical 
  laws 
  of 
  the 
  universe, 
  the 
  conservation 
  of 
  

   mass 
  and 
  the 
  conservation 
  of 
  energy. 
  According 
  to 
  these, 
  matter 
  

   and 
  energy 
  were 
  immutable 
  in 
  amount 
  and 
  neither 
  could 
  ever 
  be 
  

   created 
  or 
  destroyed 
  in 
  the 
  minutest 
  measure. 
  

  

  But 
  the 
  twentieth 
  is 
  an 
  unsettling 
  century. 
  Such 
  mental 
  revolu- 
  

   tionists 
  as 
  Einstein, 
  Planck, 
  and 
  Bohr 
  have 
  opened 
  our 
  eyes 
  and 
  

   widened 
  our 
  outlook. 
  We 
  can 
  not 
  be 
  so 
  cocksure 
  about 
  many 
  ideas 
  

   as 
  were 
  the 
  simple-minded 
  scientists 
  of 
  the 
  former 
  century. 
  Some 
  of 
  

   the 
  generalizations 
  which 
  seemed 
  to 
  them 
  absolute 
  and 
  universal 
  

   principles 
  of 
  nature 
  appear 
  to 
  the 
  more 
  critical 
  eyesight 
  of 
  the 
  pres- 
  

   ent 
  generation 
  to 
  be 
  disguised 
  definitions, 
  similar, 
  as 
  Eddington 
  

   puts 
  it, 
  to 
  the 
  Great 
  Law 
  to 
  which 
  there 
  is 
  no 
  exception, 
  that 
  there 
  

   are 
  3 
  feet 
  in 
  every 
  yard. 
  

  

  For 
  instance, 
  the 
  law 
  of 
  the 
  conservation 
  of 
  energy. 
  We 
  see 
  a 
  

   lump 
  of 
  burning 
  coal 
  giving 
  off 
  energy 
  at 
  a 
  great 
  rate 
  as 
  radiant 
  heat 
  

   and 
  light. 
  Where 
  did 
  that 
  energy 
  come 
  from? 
  Where 
  was 
  it 
  when 
  

   the 
  lump 
  was 
  cold, 
  if 
  no 
  energy 
  can 
  be 
  created 
  in 
  the 
  course 
  of 
  com- 
  

   bustion 
  ? 
  The 
  reply 
  of 
  the 
  nineteenth-century 
  chemist 
  was 
  clear 
  and 
  

   decided. 
  The 
  energy 
  was 
  there 
  all 
  the 
  time 
  in 
  exactly 
  the 
  same 
  

   amount, 
  although 
  its 
  presence 
  could 
  not 
  be 
  demonstrated, 
  because 
  it 
  

   was 
  in 
  the 
  form 
  of 
  " 
  potential 
  energy." 
  Obviously 
  this 
  was 
  un- 
  

   answerable 
  as 
  an 
  argument, 
  although 
  not 
  very 
  enlightening 
  as 
  an 
  

   explanation. 
  We 
  are 
  nowadays 
  disposed 
  to 
  suspect 
  that 
  this 
  " 
  poten- 
  

   tial 
  energy 
  " 
  was 
  put 
  into 
  the 
  coal 
  by 
  logic 
  rather 
  than 
  by 
  geology, 
  

   and 
  that 
  if 
  it 
  exists 
  in 
  nature 
  at 
  all 
  it 
  is 
  in 
  the 
  nature 
  of 
  the 
  human 
  

   mind. 
  The 
  twin 
  laws 
  of 
  the 
  conservation 
  of 
  matter 
  and 
  energy 
  are 
  

   as 
  useful 
  as 
  ever, 
  for 
  they 
  still 
  serve 
  to 
  clarify 
  our 
  conceptions 
  and 
  

   to 
  guide 
  our 
  experimentation. 
  No 
  experiment 
  has 
  ever 
  been 
  able 
  to 
  

   detect 
  the 
  slightest 
  flaw 
  in 
  them, 
  and 
  it 
  may 
  never 
  be 
  possible 
  to 
  de- 
  

   vise 
  tests 
  so 
  delicate 
  as 
  to 
  disclose 
  any 
  discrepancy. 
  Yet 
  neither 
  law 
  

   is 
  now 
  regarded 
  as 
  absolute 
  in 
  itself, 
  and 
  it 
  seems 
  that 
  we 
  shall 
  have 
  

   to 
  substitute 
  some 
  general 
  law 
  which 
  will 
  include 
  the 
  two 
  and 
  allow 
  

   for 
  the 
  transformation 
  of 
  matter 
  into 
  energy 
  and 
  vice 
  versa. 
  Ein- 
  

  

  