| Cosmic View: The Universe in 40 Jumps by Kees Boeke (1957) |
page 47 |
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| TOP Flaps 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 |
| Powers of ten: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 <> 1 0 -1 -2 -3 -4 -5 -6 -7 -8 -9 -10 -11 -12 -13 |
 
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| -13. |
In this final picture we see the nucleus of the sodium atom. We cannot even guess
how the 12 protons and 1 1 neutrons in it are placed. This nucleus is not painted
an even grey; its edge is of a somewhat lighter tone which gradually merges
into the darker hue in the center. The meaning of this difference of tone is again
different from that in drawings -7 to -11. Here a darker grey denotes
greater density of electric charge. As a new element there is a gamma ray,
full of astonishingly penetrating power, coming in from the left. Its wave length
is only a millionth of an angstrom unit, which itself is a hundred millionth of a
centimeter! Looking back on the whole series of 40 pictures we find that in only
10 of them (3 to -6) is life known to exist. In other scales there may, however,
be forms of life we do not yet know.
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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. |