There is also another reason for increased hope. It seems feasible that, under certain conditions. Nature would automatically continue the disruption of the atom, after a human being had intentionally started it, as in the analogous case of a conflagration which extends, although it may have started from a mere spark.
A by-product of future research might lead to the transmutation of lead into gold. The possibility of this transformation of elements is subject to the same arguments as those above about the splitting up of the atom and the release of great quantities of energy. The path of decay from radium to lead lies clearly exposed even now, but it is very questionable whether mankind will finally have cause to offer up hymns of thanksgiving if this line from lead on to the precious metals should be continued, for it would cause our conception of the latter to be shattered. Gold made from lead would not give rise to an increase in the value of the meaner metal, but to the utter depreciation of gold, and hence the loss of the standard of value that has been valid since the beginning of our civilization. No economist would be possessed of a sufficiently far-sighted vision to be able to measure the consequences on the world's market of such a revolution in values.
The chief product would, of course, be the gain in energy, and we must bear this in mind when we give ourselves up to our speculations, however optimistic or catastrophic they may be. The impenetrable barrier "impossible" no longer exists. Einstein's wonderful "Open Sesame," mass times the square of the velocity of light, is thundering at the portals.
And mankind finds a new meaning in the old saw: One should never say never!
CHAPTER III
VALHALLA
Order of Distinction and Characteristics of Great Discoverers.—Galilei and Newton.—Forerunners and Priority.—Science and Religion.—Inheritance of Talent.—A Dynasty of Scholars.—Alexander von Humboldt and Goethe.—Leonardo da Vinci.—Helmholtz.—Robert Mayer and Dühring.—Gauss and Riemann.—Max Planck.—Maxwell and Faraday.
I HAD made up my mind to question Einstein about a number of famous men, not concerning mere facts of their lives and works, for these details were also procurable elsewhere, and, moreover, I was not ignorant of them, but what attracted me particularly was to try to discover how the greatness of one might be compared with that of another. This sometimes helps us to see a personality in a different light and from a new perspective, which leads us to assign to him a new position in the series of orders of merit.
I had really sketched out a list for this purpose, including a great number of glorious names from the annals of physics and regions just beyond: a table, as it were, from which one might set up a directory for Valhalla! It seemed to me a pleasing thought to roam through this hall of celebrities in company with Einstein, and to pause at the pedestal of the busts of the great, who, in spite of their number, are still too few, far too few, in comparison with the far too many who populate the earth like so many factory-produced articles. If we set to work to draw up a list of this sort, we soon find that there is no end to these heroes of Valhalla, and we are reminded of the hall of fame of the Northern Saga, of the mythological Valhalla, whose ceiling was so high that the gable was invisible, and whose extent was so great that anyone wishing to enter could choose from five hundred and forty entrances.
In reality our little excursion was far from taking these dimensions, the chief reason being probably that we had begun at Newton. However attractive it may be to hear Einstein talk of Newton, a disadvantage arises in that we find it hard to take leave of his bust situated at the main portal, and that we continually revert to it even when we call to mind the remaining paths free for our choice and stretching out of sight.
Reality, even figuratively, offered a picture which differed considerably from the measures of greatness apportioned by legendary accounts. In Einstein's workroom, certainly, a visitor encounters portraits, not busts, and it would be rash to speak of this little collection of portraits as of a miniature museum. No, it is certainly not that, for its catalogue numbers only to three. But here they act as a trinity with a special significance under the gaze of Einstein, who looks up to them with reverence. To him their contribution of thought is immeasurable; Faraday, Maxwell with his rich coils of hair, and between them, Newton with his flowing wig, represented in an excellent English engraving, whose border consists of symbolic insignias encircling his distinguished-looking countenance.