Evening star., 1928-04-29
BY THOMAS Il, HENRY.
IA I Is MaIIETE
1 What is Life2
W What is Preventative

Since man began 10 wonder
and to think these three
fundamental questions have confronted
him and Knocked him.
For centuries they have baffie6
science and philosophy. But today
Nature is bsbbling some of her Sc
crets. At least she is talking in her
sleep. giving 70 the few who understand
her obscure and intricate language
clues by which they are solving the
mysteries she has preserved for so long
II has been necessary for these men
10 make long mental Journeys 10 find
the data they SOught-out for millions
OF light years through the starry heav-
ems in one direction and into the tiny
hearts Of cells and atoms in the other.
But they are finding and mapping the
roads.
Some Of the most notable stages
reached in recent years towards the So
lution of both these problems were de-
Scribed at the annual meeting of the
National Academy of Sciences in Wash
ington this week. Scientific history
was made on the platform Of the Ma
tional Academy Building.
Look Out on Universe.
It no longer is a matter Of philo-
s0phical lntroSpection with these men
who strive to penetrate the deeper Sc
crets Of Nature, but of exact obServa-
ton and mathematical calculation.
They look out on the universe rather
than. like gloTified crystal gaZers, into
the depths Of their own minds where
there are only distorted reflections of
the pTe-conceived ideas and preludices
Of society.
BY far the most notable OF these
announcements was that by DR.. Robert
A Millikan Of the California Insti-
tute Of Technology regarding the struc-
ture Of matter. 1t was universally
agreed among members Of the acad-
emy that DR.. Millikan's work in this
field. Of which he told for the first
time, would constitute one of the mile
stones in the science of physics.
Two or three years ago DR.. Milikan
made his first announcements in tech
nical journals concerning the discovery
OF some mysterious rays, hundreds Of
times shorter than X-rayS. which were
beating against the outer atmosphere
OF the earth. They were coming in
all directions from outer space He
was able 10 detect their presence with
electroscopes on mountain tops and at
tached to pilot balloons. but he didn't
know where they came from or what
they were. The one fact that stood out
vas that the sun had nothing-or very
ilttie-to do with them. The lombard
naent was just as intense at midnight
rs al MONDAY.
Solved Puzzling Question.
DR.. Millikan proceeded 10 study them
to find out every observable fact con-
ceFning their nature and behavior He
hadn't any idea where the research
would bring him. Actually 1t solved
one Of the most puzzling questions Of
p1ysicS--tf1e nature OF matter
He studied the penetrating power of
these rays in the high mountain lakes
of California. He found that they were
not al Of the same length. They we're
spread out In bands, ike the spectrum
Of light, but there was great gap be-
tween them and the gamma rays Of
radlum, the shortest and hardest on the
light spectrum. Some would penetrate
the lake water To q distance of so feet.
Others, the shortest and hardest of
them. could be detected at depths OF
200 feet. Dr. Aillikan made careful
measurements Of the amounts Of energy
necessary TO give the rays such remark
able penetrating power-and he saw at
once that he had arrived at the solu-
ton Of one Of the great mysteries.
An Elements Fundamental.
Everything In creation-the earth,
the seas. the stars and the great, myste-
rio1s white clouds beyond the stars--ia
composed Of fundamental elements
There are about 80 Of them, ranging
from the extremely light gas hydrogen
10 uranium, the heaviest Of all. II long
aa4 S-ss4 "a.
were built up progressively from hydro
gen. the basis Of ali matter. but there
were some very p1zzling features to
overcome ig this hypothesis.
In weight most of these elements are
exact nult1pies of each other. but there
are some exceptions The most striking
exception attends the first step OF all ln
such an upbuii6ing process, An atom
VI Hydrogen consists Of one eiectror
revolving about one proton. It's atomic
weight Is 00S. Next IN the atomic Ia
bic Of the elements is the rare. light gaa
nelium, hitherto known only as a prod.
yet 81 the cisintegration of radiurn
end other radioactive material. and oi
extreme military value because IL /
light enough ~ float airghips but can.
not oe exploded Heliurn consists ol
four protons and four electrons. II
might b. combination Of four hydro.
gen atoms except for one thing. IT.
atomic weight is exactly and not -four
times ] 005. II hydrogen atoms com.
Dlne In some mysterious cay 20 make
heliupls . tiny fraction Of atomic weighs
is lost IN the process.
Matter Indestructibie?
low the old physics text books usee
teach that matter IL indeStructiDle
50 matter what Is doyse u, II they gafd