Bryan morning eagle. [volume] (Bryan, Tex.) 1898-1909, 1901-10-08
MATTER AND FORCE.
ENERGY CANNOT BE CREATED NOR
CAN IT BE DESTROYED.

ther OF The.. Impossible Things.
ne Could Cause "the Wreck of Mat
ter and the Crash OF worid1
IL you could imagine an cart Ibrm
trying TO run the Niagara Electric
Lighting and Power Transmission
works. you would have some faint idea
OF the capacity OF the greatest human
genius that ever lived 20 run the visible
universe. That u probably why the
wisest OF us Is not permitted TO I'M
derstand the final secrets OF nature.
Here Is a good example. Take rifle
into n place sufficiently far from the
habitations Of men: put the butt on the
ground and support II so that the bar
rel points straight up and pull the trig-
ger. The bullet viii leave the muzzle
with a velocity OF. say, 5000 feet a Sec
ond. 10 viii rise 10 an enormous
height. come 10 "A standstlll for an In
fnitesimal fraction OF a second and be-
gin 10 fall back again. II Will strike
the earth with very nearly but not
quite the same velocity as Il left the
muzzle OF the gun. II would be exact.
~ the same but for the resistance "
the air.
What has happened Is this: The ex-
plosion OF the powder has changed a
solid into gas. and the expansive en-
ergy Of this has driven the bullet up
ward. In other words. Il has for the
time overcome that mysterious force
by which the earth draws everything
toward lis own center.
But when the energy Of the exploded
powder is exactly balanced by the pull
OF gravitatlon the bullet falls back. In
the first second after It's turn Il falls
10 feet In the next 81. In the next "a.
In the next los. and so on TN Il returns
with ever increasing velocity whence
Il started.
Nothing has been lost. nothing gain
ed. The gases set free by the explo-
sion OF the powder weigh exactly as
much rs the solid. Some OF the energy
has been used as heat. some In propel-
ling the bullet. Gravitation. overcome
for awhile. has reasserted itself. The
gum OF matter and force In the uni
verse IL absolutely unchanged.
This Is as true OF the quickened beat
OF a girls heart when she meets her
lover as II Is OF the march Of the plan
cts and suns through the fields OF space.
Every atom Of matter. every unit OF
force, throughout the universe IL CON
slant. external and exactly balanced.
and the whole strength and genius OF
humanity could not increase or dimin-
ish them by the slightest fraction.
Now. let US imagine what would hap
pen II man could make that bullet
strike the earth with greater or less
force than Il left the muzzle OF the gun.
He would either have increased or de-
creased the total OF universal energy.
and In either case he would have
thrown first the solar system aud then
the whole universe out Of gear.
The earth and all the other planets
would begin 70 revolve In different or
bits. The sun. with its family OF worlds,
would alter It's path round the un.
known center about which II reyolyes.
Then world would be hurled against
world aud sun against sun. and stars
and planets would be reduced to the
flaming gases from which they cooled
into solids and liquids before time be-
gan 10 be.
Just the same catastrophe would hap
pen II man could either create or en-
tirely destroy n grain Of sand on the
seashore. The balance OF the universe.
In which swing stars and planets,
whose weight Is lnexpressible in human
figures Uhis tiny world OF ours weighs
G.OOO.O 100000. 600 600, 900 tons), Is in
1nitely more delicate than that which
the chemist has TO keep In an alright
case and at an even temperature lest a
breath Of air should throw It out Of
gear.
Thus the destruction or creation Of a
grain Of sand would change the orbit
Of the earth round the sun. In the
one case II would be drawn closer and
closer TO the sun. perhaps after thou
sands OF revolutions 10 be swallowed
up In fiery ruin. In the other case Il
would gradually leave the sun and year
by year wander farther away into re-
gions OF space where human life would
be impossible.
The result Of the dislocation OF such
a stupendous system, which has work
ed with unfalllng exactltude for count
less ages, Is. OF course. utterly beyond
the scope OF human Imagination, and
yet such seeming triie as the creation
or destruction OF a single grain OK sand
might, and probably would. plunge 1t
into utter chaos and ruin.-Pearson's