THE BREATH OF LIFE 



woodchuck-hole sticking out, looks like pretty good 

 physics. The electrons give matter its inertia, and 

 give it the force we call cohesion, give it its tough- 

 ness, its strength, and all its other properties. They 

 make water wet, and the diamond hard. They are 

 the fountain-head of the immense stores of the inter- 

 atomic energy, which, if it could be tapped and con- 

 trolled, would so easily do all the work of the world. 

 But this we cannot do. "We are no more com- 

 petent," says Professor Soddy, "to make use of 

 these supplies of atomic energy than a savage, 

 ignorant of how to kindle a fire, could make use of 

 a steam-engine." The natural rate of flow of this 

 energy from its atomic sources we get as heat, and 

 it suffices to keep life going upon this planet. It is 

 the source of all the activity we see upon the globe. 

 Its results, in the geologic ages, are stored up for us 

 in coal and oil and natural gas, and, in our day, are 

 available in the winds, the tides, and the waterfalls, 

 and in electricity. 



IV 



The electric constitution of matter is quite be- 

 yond anything we can imagine. The atoms are 

 little worlds by themselves, and the whole mystery 

 of life and death is in their keeping. The whole dif- 

 ference in the types of mind and character among 

 men is supposed to be in their keeping. The dif- 

 ferent qualities and properties of bodies are in their 



204. 



