Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1901-10-07
FI'V'' n is
.M a TER a N ID Il Or CE.


M a TIE Rs a N ID Il RCE
ENERGY cAssl OF 3 BE CREATED NOR
CAN II BE DEsTRoYED.
II Puny Man Could AeconpIfsh Eli
| ther of These InapossibIe FhinEs,
He Could Cause ssthe Wreck of afnt-
ter and the CrasI, Of Worlds. 6
II you could irnag agine an cart thworrs &
trying to run the Niagara Electric
Lighting and a Power Transmission
works, you would have some faint idea s
| of the capacity OF the greatest human
genius that ever lived to run the visible
universe. That Is probably why the
Wisest OF us il NOT permit tied TO un-
derstand the final secrets Of nature.
Here is good example Take a rifle
into place sufficiently far from the
habitations of men; put the butt on the
ground and support It SO that the bar
rel points straight up and pull the trig-
ger. The bullet will leave the mnzzIe
| with a velocity OF, say, 8, 900 feet Sec
| ond. 1t viii rise to an enormous
height, come to q standstiil for an In
fnitesimal fraction Of second and be-
gin to fall back again IT. will strike
| the earth with very nearly but not
quite the same velocity as 1t left the
muzzle OF the gun. It would be exact
! II the same but for the resistance OF
The air. ~ i$s5
What has happened is this: The ex-
plosion Of the powder has changed al
/ solid into a gas, and the expansive en-
ergy of this has driven the bullet up
/ ward. In other words, 1t has for the
time overcome that mysterious force
by which the earth draws everything
i toward its own center.
] But when the energy of the exploded
] powder is exactly balanced by the pull
4 of gravitation the bullet falls back In
the first second after its turn it falls
=16 feet, in the next 80. In the next 81,
u the next 12S and SO on till it returns
4 with ever increasing velocity whence
it started. $S }s ss$
Nothing has been lost, nothing gain
ed. The gases set free by the eKplo-S
! sion of the powder weigh exactly as
much as 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
sum Of matter and force In the uni
verse is absolutely unchanged.
This is as true of the quickened beat
Of a girls heart when she meets her
/ lover as it is of the march of the plan
cts and sums through the fields Of space.
Every atom Of matter, every unit of
force, throughout the universe is con-
stant, external and exactly balanced,
and the whole strength and genius Of
humanity could not increase or dimin-
ish them by the slightest fraction.
1 Now, let us imagine what would hap
j pen il man could make that bullet
strike the earth with greater or less
] force than it left the muzzIe 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 and then
the whole universe out Of gear. x, 5 X
.. The earth and all the other planets
would begin to reYolye in different or
bits. The sun, with it's family OF worlds,
/ would alter it's path round the un-
known center about which it revolyes
Then world would be hurled against
world and 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 to be. .;
1 T11ct has fo<
pen If man could either create or en-
tirely destroy a grain of sand on the
| seashore. The balance OF the universe,
| in which swing stars and planets,
whose weight is inexpressible in human
figures this tiny world of ours weighs
5000, ,000, ,OOo, ,o00. 600, 100000 tons), is in
| initely more delicate than that which
the chemist has to keep in an alright
case and at an even temperature lest
| breath of air should throw it out Of
gear. 1 .*g5g. II 55s I.
Thus the destruction or. creation Of
grain Of sand would change the orbit
OF the earth round the sun. In the
one case it would be drawn closer and
closer 10 the sun, perhaps after thou
sands Of revolutions to be swallowed
up in fiery ruin. In the other case it
would gradually leave the sun and year
by year wander farther away into re-
gions OF space where human life would
be impossible. sss 81; 55
The result of the dislocation of such
q stupendous system, which has work
ed with unfailing exactitude for count
less ages, is. Of course, utterly beyond
the scope Of human Imagination, and
vet such q seeming tribe as the creation
or destruction Of q single grain Of sand
might, and probably would, plunge IT,
into utter chaos and ruiz. Pearsonss
His Abilfty.
stAnd how is my old school friend
Bimson getting on n. said the man who
had returned 10 his native city after a
long absence. gss