Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 69.djvu/52

48 cubic meter of platinum is in truth an empty space, with the exception of, at the outside, one cubic millimeter occupied by the actual matter of the dynamides.

If we can thus reasonably and mathematically eliminate the matter of a cubic meter of one of our densest metals to such an extent, it should not be very difficult to make one more effort and eliminate that insignificant little cubic millimeter still remaining, and say, with cogent reasons behind us for the statement, that there is no matter at all, but simply energy in motion. This is exactly what has been done by many who occupy high and authoritative positions in the scientific world.

Long before experimental evidence of the existence of corpuscles had been obtained, it was demonstrated that an electrically charged body, moving with high velocity, had an apparent mass greater than its true mass, because of the electrical charge. The faster it moved the greater became its apparent mass or, what comes to the same thing, assuming the electrical charge to remain unaltered, the greater the velocity the less the mass of the body carrying the charge needed to be to have always the same apparent mass. It was calculated that when the velocity equaled that of light, it was not necessary to assume that the body carrying the charge had any mass at all! In other words, the bit of electric charge moving with the velocity of light would have weight and all the properties of mass.

This might be looked upon as an interesting mathematical abstraction, but without any practical application, if it were not for the fact that Kaufmann determined the apparent masses of corpuscles shot out from a radium preparation at different velocities, and compared them with the masses calculated on the basis that the whole of the mass was due to the electric charge. The agreement between the observed and calculated values is so close that it leads Thomson to say: "These results support the view that the whole mass of these electrified particles arises from their charge."

Then the corpuscles are to be looked upon as nothing but bits of electric charge, not attached to matter at all, just bits of electric charge, nothing more nor less. It is this view which has led to the introduction of the term electron, first proposed by Stoney, to indicate in the name itself the immaterial nature of these ultimates of our present knowledge. We have but to concede the logical sequence of this reasoning, all based on experimental evidence, and the last stronghold of the materialists is carried, and we have a universe of energy in which matter has no necessary part.

If we accept the electron theory, our atoms are to be considered