STRUCTURE OF MATTER.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 102, 2 May 1930, Page 10

STRUCTURE OF MATTER.

THE ATOMIC THEORY. MODERN INVESTIGATION. That the gulf between so-called living and dead matter is being bridged by modern scientific investigation was maintained by Mr. J. S. Langley. the Australian rationalist lecturer, in the course of an address on "The Universe Around Us," delivered before a large audience at the Town Hal! last evening. Mr. Langley said the Greeks speculated much on the nature of the universe, and considered that matter must be composed of little atoms. When they thought of liquids and gases, the explanation was that in these the atoms were unable to cling together. It was very remarkable how close they guessed to the truth. The Dark Ages then came along and the orthodox religion intervened. It was not until the 18th century that a Manchester chemist, John Dalton. was able to prove that the Greeks had been right after all. We owed to Dalton the revival on a scientific basis of the former speculations. The speaker H-eiit on to describe the progress of investigation from the discovery of the atomic structure of matter, leading to perception of there being something beyond the atom. He also briefly dealt with the planetary theory and the nebula hypothesis. His remarks were illustrated by a series of striking lantern slides.