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177
The Story of Alchemy and the Beginnings of Chemistry
·
M. M. Pattison Muir
171
Let
us
suppose
that
the
transformation
of
one
element
into
another
element
or
into
other
elements
has
been
accomplished.
Let
us
suppose
that
the
conception
of
elementary
atoms
as
very
stable
arrangements
of
many
identical
particles,
from
about
a
thousand
to
about
a
quarter
of
a
million
times
lighter
than
the
atoms,
has
been
justified
by
crucial
experiments.
Let
us
suppose
that
the
conception
of
the
minute
grains
of
radio-active
substances
as
particular
but
constantly
changing
arrangements
of
the
same
identical
particles,
stable
groups
of
which
are
the
atoms
of
the
elements,
has
been
firmly
established.
One
result
of
the
establishment
of
the
electronic
conception
of
atomic
structure
would
be
an
increase
of
our
wonder
at
the
complexity
of
nature's
ways,
and
an
increase
of
our
wonder
that
it
should
be
possible
to
substitute
a
simple,
almost
rigid,
mechanical
machinery
for
the
ever-changing
flow
of
experience,
and,
by
the
use
of
that
mental
mechanism,
not
only
to
explain
very
many
phenomena
of
vast
complexity,
but
also
to
predict
occurrences
of
similar
entanglement
and
to
verify
these
predictions.
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