Evening star., 1933-09-03

the Nobel Prize man in
physics, who has been spend
- ing the Summer at Columbia
University, was invited to lee
! ture at Teachers College on his special
subject of research, the coSmic rays. It
surprised the lecturer to find the large
hall crowded, and the close attention
with which the audience followed his
discourse that hot July afternoon was
marked. Indeed, several experts COM
mented on the fact that a technical
subject apparently so remote from
human affairs should focus the interest
of so many people.
Butts the subject remote from
human affairs? Here we have the
mightiest packet Of energy yet discov-
cred in the physical world, the elec-
trical pressure of 20 thunderbolts
packed into an unseen ray, and these
billions of volts continually lombard
ing the earth from outer space-who
wouldn't be interested in the very
mystery of the thing?
What are cosmic rays? This ques-
ton is still being investigated. Whence
do they come? Nobody knows. In
what fierce furnaces are these titanic
energies generated to be hurled into
space with the speed Of light and with
d peIlttIdLlIls pO"cI 1id1ly IA1ouod1lOS
of times that Of the most energetic
light rays known? Again, nobody
knows.
What are the effects Of this bonn
bardment on our world? Does 1t create
or destroy? Some one has computed
from the condolences that on the av
erage about 100 cosmic rays dart
through the human body every second.
What do they do to flesh and bone?
Is some of our disease perhaps charge
able to cosmic rays? Or are the rays q
life giver, quickener. a stimulus?
Nobody knows. None of these ques-
tons has yet been answered unequi-
vocally, but the questions themselves
suggest the Importance Of the phe-
nomenon. We are confronted not with
a far-of something remote In inter-
stellar space, but with force-what-
ever its origin-that is here and now
and active on the earth, continually
penetrating and commingling with the
tissues Of our bodies, an intimate and
universal thing Every day the sun
light is interrupted for period OF
darkness; but there is no interruption
of the cosmic rays. Day and night,
perpetually, they pelt us, penetrating
roofs, ceilings, walls It has been DEM
onstrated that they will pass through
IS feet of lead.
May Explain Universe.
Though our knowledge Of cosmic
rays is fragmentary, enough Is known
to suggest that here we have SUI
preme mystery. reaching, 1t may be,
to the very heart of the atom, pos
sible key to the hidden mechanism OF
nature. perhaps a clew to the origin
of the universe itself.
Scientists all over the earth nave
recognized the fundamental impl1ca-
tions of the evidence, and there Is no
discovery of recent times that has been
the subject of such extensive investiga-
tions by able investigators. Also. there
is no subject that has been the focus
of so much controversy among these
same able vestigators-perhaps be-
cause of their realization that the thing
is basic and that its explanation may
lie at the root Of other problems:
Another reason for the wide differ
ences of opinion as to the nature and
origin of the rays lies in what Or. K.
K. Darrow has called "the minuteness
of the phenomena and the delicacy Of
the observations" The thing is ultra
scopic. It cannot be seen only indi-
rectly can it be felt, and its effects be
photographed. Thus, there are IN
cubic centimeter of air "a cube meas
uring less than half an inch each way
a total of thirty millions of millions OF
millions Of air molecules. Every sec
ond two or three of these are hit by
a cosmic ray and it is by detecting and
measuring the characteristics OF these
mutilated particles that the rays them
selves are identified and studied.
These enormous odds-two or three
L. af 4
coo targets-the minuteness of the
the phenomena and the delicacy Of the
observations constitute a challenge to
the intelligence and ingenuity Of man.
Some Of the most eminent Of contem-
porary scientists have taken up the
challenge.
They have devised sensitive and yet |
more sensitive apparatus; they have
carried their apparatus to the tops OF |
mountains. lowered it to the depths Of |
glacial lakes, tried its effects in deep |
mines and tunnels They have pur-
sued their quarry by airplane, by bal |
loon into the stratosphere, by mule
back into the tropics and by human
porters- their traps by night |
and by day, in Summer, Fall, Winter,
ical or seasonal variation in the dis |
tribution and intensity Of the cosm1c |
rays.
Dr. Compton travelled more than 50.- |
900 miles last year in pursuit OF this
cosmic mystery. In the course OF his |
expedition he touched five continents,
crossed the equator four times and Wis !
tied such remote extremes as New Zea-
land and the vicinity Of the North
Magnetic Pole-lugging along to each
place 500 pounds of sensitive apparatus.
simultaneously and co-ordinated with
his research. using the same type OF
apparatus and methods OF inquiry, were
six other expeditions at six widely sep
arated areas. One Of these, that UP
Mount Mckinley in Alaska, resulted IN
the death of two members Of the party
though the fatality occurred after
the cosmic ray measurements were |
made, and as penalty Of adventur1ng,
rather than of scientific research.
Many Exploring Problem.
But Compton and his associates are
only few among many who are ex-
ploring this problem-includ1ng Dr.
Robert A. Millikan, one Of the nrst 10
recognize the fundamental importance
of cosmic rays and the man who gave
them their name; also Sir James Jeans,
who. though not an observer, has postu-
lated IueOIy Qu1Ic II CoAi'A o'o
that advanced by Dr. Millikan and the |
Abbe Georges Lemaitre. he OF the ex-
panding bubble universe, who rejects
both Jeans and Milltkan's conceptions
and proposes a new hypothesis whicn
links up the cosmic rays with the birth
of the universe and the beginning OF
time.
''It should be understood" said DR..
Compton. whom I saw a few days ago
in New York, that these differences Of
opinion all concern the physical nature
and origin of the rays. There Is no
question as to their existence and pene-
trating power-though the energies
which the rays carry are so exceptional
as to make science pause and to de-
mand that the data be checked and re-