264 The Outline of Science 



Here it is enough to say that as he took element after element, 

 from the lightest (hydrogen) to the heaviest (uranium) he 

 found a strangely regular relation between them. If hydrogen 

 were represented by the figure one, helium by two, lithium three, 

 and so on up to uranium, then uranium should have the figure 

 ninety-two. This makes it probable that there are in nature 

 ninety-two elements we have found eighty-seven and that 

 the number Mr. Moseley found is the number of electrons in the 

 atom of each element; that is to say, the number is arranged in 

 order of the atomic numbers of the various elements. 



7 

 The New View of Matter 



Up to the point we have reached, then, we see what the new 

 view of Matter is. Every atom of matter, of whatever kind 

 throughout the whole universe, is built up of electrons in conjunc- 

 tion with a nucleus. From the smallest atom of all the atom of 

 hydrogen which consists of one electron, rotating round a posi- 

 tively charged nucleus, to a heavy complicated atom, such as the 

 atom of gold, constituted of many electrons and a complex 

 nucleus, we have only to do with positive and negative units of 

 electricity. The electron and its nucleus are particles of electri- 

 city. All Matter, therefore, is nothing but a manifestation of 

 electricity. The atoms of matter, as we saw, combine and form 

 molecules. Atoms and molecules are the bricks out of which 

 nature has built up everything; ourselves, the earth, the stars, 

 the whole universe. 



But more than bricks are required to build a house. There 

 are other fundamental existences, such as the various forms of 

 energy, which give rise to several complex problems. And we 

 have also to remember, that there are more than eight}- distinct 

 elements, each with its own definite type of atom. We shall deal 

 with energy later. Meanwhile it remains to be said that, although 

 we have discovered a great deal about the electron and the con- 



