Intro
If we traverse in our imagination the pathway over which Man has struggled, we arrive at the conclusion that knowledge of the physical world has been the foundation of civilization. We also note the ever increasing momentum of scientific progress and of its applications. Everyone is vitally interested in science, whether he is consciously so or not.
He cannot escape the influence of such knowledge as long as he is a part of civilization. Even the savage does not drift through life entirely without the use of at least a scanty knowledge of Nature. Man is unable to alter the laws of Nature, but he can utilize them. He cannot avoid their ultimate victory over him, but he can often step out of their way during his brief sojourn as an Earth-Being.
“Man only, — rash, refined, presumptuous Man –
Starts from his rank, and mars Creation’s plan! Born the free heir of Nature’s wide domain,
To art’s strict limits bounds his narrow’d reign;
Resigns his native rights for meaner things,
For Faith and Fetters, Laws and Priests and Kings.”
These lines provide much to think about in regard to Man’s place in the scheme of things. At least they remind us that we have stepped from the rank of Creation’s scheme. We are stepping further and further from the rank as our knowledge increases. However, we are not free and we are handicapped by the limitations of our human senses. With respect to the physical world as we know it, we stand midway between inconceivable distances, but we have already achieved much in spanning them. In the far-off stellar crucibles we see the same laws being obeyed as in our laboratories. As we trace matter down to the almost infinitesimal constituents of the extremely minute atom, we find that apparently it does not exist at all as the realistic matter which we have supposed it to be. There at its very foundation it seems to consist of electric charges which probably simulate the motions of celestial bodies. Throughout this inconceivable range in magnitude from atoms to stars the same physical laws seem to reign. But the most marvelous revelation is the wonderful unification of apparently unrelated phenomena. Long ago we became convinced that Nature was orderly and perhaps simple. It is becoming more and more certain that the apparent complexity of Nature is due to our lack of knowledge. As the picture unfolds it promises a marvelous simplicity.
It is the aim of this book to present popularly and systematically the picture of the foundations of the universe as it now appears. Owing to the magnitude of the subject, it has not been practicable to tarry long over any portion of it. Many details have been purposely omitted, because of lack of space. No claim to completeness is made although the author is not aware of any important foundation-stone that has not been considered. It has been the aim to confine the discussions chiefly to established facts and to give only glimpses into the realms that are speculative at present. For obvious reasons mathematics has not been utilized notwithstanding the difficulty of explaining some physical processes without this wonderful medium of expression. As a consequence some portions of the picture may be blurred because words are inadequate substitutes for mathematical equations. It is hoped that this book will be interesting to the general reader, helpful to students of science, and even to specialists in science whose own fields are somewhat removed from foundational physics.