IS LIGHT CORPUSCULAR? by T. Henry
THE latest scientific contribution to the reinstated corpuscular theory of light has been made by Professor Bragg, of Leeds University, England, who in a recent lecture at the Royal Institution announced his conclusion that the x-rays are corpuscular. He said, as reported, that the alpha and beta rays are considered to be electrons, while the gamma rays and the x-rays are held to be etheric vibrations. But he thinks that all four are corpuscular, also that ultra-violet light may be corpuscular; and from this he infers that even ordinary light may be so. As we have frequently found occasion to point out, the nature of either a corpuscle on the one hand or a vibration on the other has not yet been sufficiently accurately defined to enable us to state definitely whether anything is the one or the other of the two. Light, and also electricity and other forces, are manifestations of life; and we view their effects alternately under their positive and negative aspects, as best suits our temporary convenience, thus forming the ideas of energy and matter. Speaking of matter or substantiality, as contrasted with force or energy, what distinctive attributes may we assign to it? "Mass" or "inertia" is one of its supposed attributes; yet there is no definite idea of what this is; often it seems to reduce itself to a passive force or resistance. But then if we are to express everything, even matter, in terms of force and energy, how can we conceive a force without a substratum or vehicle? Is not the quantity "mass" a component of the mathematical definitions of force and energy? All this confusion comes from the attempt to define physical matter in terms of physical matter. There are in physics certain primary notions of space, mass, dimension, etc., correlative with our five-sense physical consciousness. These we may either accept as axioms without attempting to resolve them any further, or, if we do make that attempt, we must resolve them into something other than themselves. This latter course means that we must leave the field of physics altogether; for it is necessary to conceive of things that are not in physical space and have none of the attributes of physical nature. To analyse dimension, space, etc., is a metaphysical inquiry. Yet it is surely essential if we are to arrive at an explanation of the phenomena antecedent to physical phenomena.
Then there is the purely practical side of physical science—applied science. The worker in this field may leave metaphysics alone perhaps; but let him either leave it alone or not—one of the two. And above all, let him not overstep that sphere to lay down laws for the governance of human life; such laws being based on a knowledge that is admittedly restricted in its scope.
To return to the point at which we started—the corpuscles of light—we may suggest a new way of looking at such matters. We have been accustomed to regard the minuteness of these corpuscles as a negative quality—to say that they are deficient in size. But why not speak of bulk as a negative quality and say that physical objects are deficient in smallness? The less bulk a thing has the quicker it gets about, the more active and potent it is. There seems no limit to velocity, except the presence of objects that impede the motion of a body. Given the absence of matter, a corpuscle can get across any distance in a practically negligible time. Thus what we call "space" seems rather like an obstacle, and when we remove the matter we seem to remove the distance also—for practical purposes. Logically, when two things have nothing between them they are in contact; and the corpuscles seem to recognize this conclusion. The condition of greatest activity, power, and omnipresence, is that a thing shall have as little size as possible; size is a weakness. What we call space and dimension is a delusion correlative with our physical consciousness. It is a reality relatively to that consciousness, but a delusion relatively to those deeper strata of consciousness which we penetrate when we try to analyse our ideas.
We have arrived at the conception of light as a very refined, omnipresent, and active form of matter. We might as well call it a spirit; those who did so meant the same thing. At any rate it is a reality. When we call it a vibration in the ether, we reduce it to an abstraction; for a vibration is nothing in itself; nor does the device help us, for we are obliged to suppose an ether.
The universe is full of life guided by mind. The life is on various planes, in various grades. These forces we are studying are its physical manifestation.
ASTRONOMICAL LORE: by a Student
AMONG the exhibits in the Science Section at the Coronation Exhibition in London, was a Chinese planisphere from the Royal Scottish Museum, which records observations that must have been made some thousands of years before the Christian era and handed down to the time of the maker.