A NEW MICROCOSM 9 



of the scientific imagination, trusting that optical 

 progress will some day enable us to verify our 

 imaginings by ocular demonstration. 



2. As our resolving powers increase, the world 

 of small things becomes more and more unfamiliar. 

 If the ordinary microscope reveals beings whose 

 existence on a large scale would be impossible, 

 how shall we find our way in a world whose 

 objects are of molecular dimensions?- But since 

 we have started on that venturesome journey, let 

 us go straight ahead, and endeavour to find some 

 link between the new kingdom of Lilliput and our 

 own universe. 



When we arrive within sight of the molecule, 

 the microcosm becomes invisible by ordinary means, 

 as already stated. But, as we shall see, there is 

 no reason why it should be invisible to eyes 

 properly adapted to its scale of magnitude. 



Fortunately for us, that scale of magnitude is 

 known with sufficient accuracy to prevent our 

 making any very grave blunders in finding our 

 way in the infra-world. We know that the atojQis. 

 are about J)-G pp in diameter, and that they are 

 surrounded by electrons in some such way as our 

 sun is surrounded In planets. These electrons have 

 a <li.iinct.jr of a millionth of a micro-millimetre, 

 or 10- 18 cm. Now, the diamoUT of the earth is 

 12 x 10 cm. Hence the ratio of the size of 

 earth to the size of tho electron is 1-2 x 10 22 , or 



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