“Different patterns in the nucleus of the atom. But radium steps down into lead evenly—226, 222, 218, 214, 210, 206, which means that it loses four points of mass at each step.”
“What makes it do that?”
“Because it releases two charges of positive electricity at each step.”
“You mean to tell me that lead is full of electricity?”
“I do. It is solid electricity, kept from explosion by the tension of its opposing charges.”
“Can you prove it?”
“Ask any physicist.”
Asher studied the deck. “You mean to tell me that the lead in the paint on this floor conceals power?”
“I do. And some day that power is going to be used in cylinders. Sooner or later we are going to make lead behave as radium does now. We are mining a million tons of it a year, and virtually wasting it. Your chemists may laugh as much as they please. I don’t expect any man but a man like yourself to entertain the idea.”
“Marvin, I want to get this thing straight in my mind. Do I understand that the chemical elements can be lined up, one, two, three, four, five—like that—according to the amount of power in them?”