Evening star., 1933-01-25
Atom Started 1t All
TINE AND SPACE BEGAN WITH >ExPLOsIoNe'
BY THOMAS R. HENRY.
In the beginnina Ii WAS an atom.


less quadrillions Of tons which now
constitute the planets. the stars and
the universes. Just few years ago. as
astronomers calculate time, this atom
started to blow up" The explosion
still Is in progress. It is creating space
and time in its path. It may continue
yet for 100000. 900 900 years.
Such was the picture outlined this
morning by Abbie Georges LIE Maitre,
Belgian priest and chief exponent of the
concept of the expanding universe, who
is to lecture at Catholic University here
tonight
Cites Impirical Evidence.
ed mathematician. Father LeMaitre
cites impirical evidence as well as theo-
retical probabilities in expounuing his
concept He Is a practical physicist
a graduate of the Massachusetts Insti-
tute Of Technology and very youthful
figure In the company Of his two great
contemporaries in the same field, Profs
Einstein and De Sitter. The universe,
he points out, actually can be seen ex-
panding at a much faster rate than is
necessary to support his calculations.
To comprehend Father LeMaitre's
concept 1t is necessary to turn to a
phenomenon, which is In progress all
the time-radioactivi 1t is known
that everything in creation is made
up Of 90 elements, starting with the
heaviest, uranium. Uranium is COM
posed Of atoms of such a complex
structure that they can't hold together.
They are continually emitting rsdia-
tion and breaking down into atoms of
lighter elements. the chief Of which
is radium All of the elements near
uranium in the weight table are break
ing down into simpler elements. Gen.
orally the heavier they are the faster
they are breaking down-the less stable
they are.
Now consider an atom countless bill
lions of times heavier than an atom OF
uranium or of radium. 1t would be
billions Of times less stable. Father LIE
Maitre finds mathematically the be-
havior of such an hypothetical
primaeval atom would explain. as
nothing else can, the present size, struc
ture and behavior Of the universe. Not
only do the equations fit, but just what
should be happening under such con-
cept Is happening The great spiral
the celebrated red shift experiments
at the Mount Wilson Observatory, are
moving outward from the center Of
things at speed which increases in
proportion to their distance.
The whole progress from the begin
ming. says the Belgian priest, has been
a process of breaking down. The break
ing down will continue indefinitely.
more complex atoms splitting into sim
pier atoms. The lighter the atoms be-
come the greater is their stability.
Finally. the time will come when every
atom will be so small that the rate of
breakdown will be incalculably small
and the job will be finished. Space
will be many times greater than it is
now There will be practical infini-
tude Of time.
Easier to Destroy.
The process of cosmical evolution,
says Father LeMaitre, is one Of break
ing down instead Of building up. It Is
easier to destroy than to create. He
disputes the idea that heavier atoms
are being built up Of lighter atoms. ex-
cept possibly on very small scale or
in the laboratory. 1t has been q pro-
cess OF progressive destruction Of the
more complex.
AAC WI III pC6du JuSL CpdCC
and time says Father LeMaitre.
1t Is hard to conceive Of no space
and no time. Before any given instant,
one feels, there must have been another
instant. Beyond any given point there
must be another point. It is the great,
continually propounded riddle.
Yet, says the priest-astronomer, the
world was here when space and time
were not. He finds no particular
stumbling block here. II it all was an
atom in the beginning there could have
been no such things as space and time
This is implied in the concept of
atom" Space and time, he explained.
simply are without meaning when ap-
Piled to such body. 1t has been said
that a billion atoms could be placed
on the point of pin. 1t is immaterial
whether they are uranium atoms or hy-
drogen atoms. Space is an interval
between objects. There IS no space in
side the atom. Thus there could have
been no space. And time and space
cannot be expressed independently of
each other. Both started to exist when
the atom started to explode and that
must have been about as soon as the
atom came into existence. Father Le-
Maitre puts it at about 10000, 900, 900
years ago.
For the present observed rate of ex-
pansion it would have been about
3 00O, 900 900 years ago. but he believes
and this may be the crux OF the whole
concept-that the rate is increasing the
longer the expansion continues. 1t was
very slow at first because the tightly
packed matter in the atom would have
been held together pretty rigidly by
the force Of gravity. It was separated
by counter force-"cosmical force"
Differs With Einstein.
Father LIE Maitre believes 1t is neces-
sary to assume this force, acting al
ways in opposition to gravity. Elm
stein doesn't think it Is necessary. 1t
which attracts masses proportionately
to their weight and their distance
apart. The closer the proximity of the
particles the greater the force Of grav-
ity. The further apart they get the
less counter pull need be applied by
cosmical force. They are getting further
apart all the time. Consequently the
cosmical force Is exerting q greater in
fuence. Consequently the expansion is
going on at faster rate. Only over
immense spaces does the cosmical force
come into evidence. Hence it eludes
the physicist But Father LeMaitre
believes he has impirical evidence of
it In the flight Of the nebulae.
It is dissipating everything. The end
Is unimaginable-a universe finely diff
fused through infinite space and infinite
|OTDECT WAR HEQ,