Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 77.djvu/462

456 and theories. I might say, however, that there are strong reasons for believing in the molecular structure of electricity, the electrical nature of matter and the dependence of mass upon velocity. The theories of radioactivity and disintegration of matter are fairly well established. According to Ramsay, one of the most eminent chemists in the world, "we are on the brink of discovering the synthesis of atoms, which may lead to the discovery of the ordinary elements." Perhaps the dream of the alchemist is about to be realized. Certain it is that we are face to face with energies of which no one even dreamed a few years ago. Whether we call this energy intra-atomic, sub-atomic, inter-elemental, or some other name, we know certainly that it exists, and that it exists in quantities far beyond the power of man's mind to comprehend. Man dares to hope, some day, somewhere, somehow, to discover the means of unlocking this infinite storehouse. If this discovery is ever made, all the others which man has ever made will pale into insignificance beside it.

Lodge says of the one-pound shot and the one-hundred-pound shot which Galileo dropped from the top of the Leaning Tower, that "their simultaneous clang as they struck the ground together sounded the death knell of the old system of philosophy and heralded the birth of the new." The age of reverence for authority had passed away and the day of experimental investigation had dawned.

In a sense the discoveries of the past few years have resulted in a similar revolution. The revival of the experimental method has been complete. Accepted theories are being put to the test. What we have long regarded as proved facts are being questioned and, in many cases, challenged. There is no field of investigation which has not been cultivated anew.

In closing, I wish to quote from the presidential address of J. J. Thomson before the British Association at its last meeting.