| Cosmic View: The Universe in 40 Jumps by Kees Boeke (1957) |
page 40 |
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| -6. |
This scale has a magnification of a million. The electron microscope therefore
can no longer give us clear images, for at most it can magnify 100,000 times.
A more schematic image is therefore unavoidable, that is, a diagram rather than
a photographic enlargement. Yet we know that there would still be living creatures.
We show the infantile paralysis virus (1), already visible in -5, and one
of hoof and mouth disease (2). The latter is about the smallest now known.
Apart from the viruses shown there exist several with shapes sharply different
from these wholly or nearly spherical forms. The sinusoid (3) shown is of an
ultraviolet ray. The dots in the upper left quadrant indicate molecules of the air.
The inset has the flagellum composed of three strands as already shown in -5.
The height of the salt crystal on this scale would be 500 meters.
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This content is from Kees Boeke's book, Cosmic View: The Universe
in 40 Jumps. It has been placed online without permission. Copyright (C) 1957 by Kees Boeke. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted, or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photo-copying and recording, or in any information storage and retrieval system, without permission. |