We use to depict the atom as a glowing nucleus shaped like a bunch of grapes, enmeshed within the intertwined loops of orbiting electrons.
It is the very trademark of the 20th century. Yet what reality lies behind the symbol? Did the atom ever sit for its portrait?
The truth is that no one has ever seen an atom, for it is far too small to see. Even if magnifying lenses could be made powerful enough,
light waves themselves are so coarse that the atom would still defy visual examination.
It would be like trying to feel the texture and angles of a grain of sand with hands encased in boxing gloves.
Nevertheless, bit by bit, the minute terrain of the atom has been mapped from evidence that,
taken piece by piece, is the most circumstantial imaginable.
Taken as a whole, however, this evidence has built up a picture of the atom with proved usefulness, as demonstrated by the nuclear weapon and the power reactor.
The accumulation of hints has been one of the most massive, protracted and diligent detective jobs ever undertaken by science.
Man began speculating about atoms long before science became an organized activity.
Even to the ancient Greeks it appeared sensible to assume that there might be some kind of ultimate building blocks of matter.
Then, many centuries later, the great Isaac Newton concluded that matter was formed in
" ... solid, massy, hard, impenetrable, movable particles ... "-in other words, that the atom was something like a billiard ball.
Newton's idea was pure speculation.
The first man to reason the atom's existence by cold intellectual deduction from a fact in nature was John Dalton (1766 – 27 July 1844), early in the 19th century.
Dalton developed a theory of the relative atomic weights of elements. How he did that is beyond my apprehension, but the research history is fascinating.
In the period 1850 - 1930 physicists were experimenting with gases, electricity, magnetisms, elements, unknown radiations and try to unravel the whole thing.
I always thought that the nuclear bomb was developed by physicists in the USA in the second half of World War II. Wrong...
The Frisch–Peierls memorandum was the first technical exposition of a practical nuclear weapon.
It was written by expatriate Jewish German physicists Otto Frisch and Rudolf Peierls in March 1940
while they were both working for Mark Oliphant at the University of Birmingham in Britain during World War II.
What really was going on, I'l tell you in the next lecture, but one thing is already clear:
the nuclear bomb is the most devastating legacy of the 20th century, which still shapes our world of today and into the far future.
Thank you for your attention again....
The Discussion
[13:20] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): thank you Herman
[13:20] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): ㋡
[13:20] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): We have discovered a lot in this area indeed
[13:21] herman Bergson: What strikes me the most today is the fact that the human mind created the idea that matter is built of small particles
[13:21] herman Bergson: even the Ancient Greek had that idea..... out of the blue?!
[13:21] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): is that possible out of the blue?
[13:22] herman Bergson: I think I have an explanation......:-)
[13:22] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): And although we cant see atoms we have discovered and confirmed all its parts using particle accelerators and similar machines the latest being the higgs boson discovered by the LHC machine
[13:22] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): question is have we discovered everything here or is there more to see
[13:22] herman Bergson: When I was about 16 I had a discussion with someone
[13:23] herman Bergson: the question was....can you destroy something completely....
[13:23] herman Bergson: that is...go from something to nothing....
[13:23] Cream Biscuit: I don't think so...
[13:23] herman Bergson: and whatever we tried to think of....there always was something left....
[13:23] herman Bergson: a gas....ashes....
[13:23] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): Antimatter + Matter = total destruction + all matter converted to 100 % energy
[13:24] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): particles
[13:24] herman Bergson: eventually yes Beertje....
[13:24] Pip Torok: isnt that something left: energy
[13:24] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): would be a hell of a bomb, This concept is used in the movie Angles and demons
[13:24] herman Bergson: Energy is a modern term Pip....
[13:24] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): but LHC or any other accelerator cant produce and contain it like that so we can be calm
[13:24] herman Bergson: then I tried to think as an Ancient Greek....
[13:25] herman Bergson: what did he see....
[13:25] herman Bergson: he smashes a rock...pulverizes it....but he still keeps some residue....
[13:25] Cream Biscuit: She saw the nature
[13:25] herman Bergson: cant make it disappear completely
[13:26] herman Bergson: Unfortunately the person who was wondering about it in those days was a man, Cream :-)
[13:26] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): until it gets so small it cant get any smaller = Atom which indeed is the greek word for Undividiable
[13:26] Cream Biscuit: hehe...
[13:27] herman Bergson: Indeed Bejiita
[13:27] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): well that is until u use these accelerators and smash it up, this was indeed the first use of these hence their other name atom smashers
[13:28] herman Bergson: But the thing is....even when you observe this pulverizing....it doe not necessarily lead to the conclusion that matter is built of small particles in general
[13:28] herman Bergson: and yet scientists used it as their model
[13:29] herman Bergson: I don't understand hardly anything about it, but when you read about the research they did in the 1880s and later....
[13:29] herman Bergson: the theories they developed and tested and got verified.....
[13:29] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): other proofs of this is why metals are conductive and why different elements (alkali metals, noble gases, halogens ect) behave the way they do which is due to their electron shell configuration
[13:30] herman Bergson: while they were unable to see what they were talking about.....only circumstantial evidence
[13:30] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): they still made conclusions that it had to work like this and surely it dies
[13:30] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): does
[13:30] herman Bergson: Bad part of the story is that we have to deal with nuclear weapons now
[13:31] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): and 3 idiots (Trump Putin and Kim) with fingers on the button
[13:31] herman Bergson: yes Bejiita
[13:31] Cream Biscuit: blargh...
[13:31] herman Bergson: We'll discuss that aspect of the story in the next lecture
[13:32] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): nukes we could do without for sure but nuclear power im not so sure since it is the only source now of a large source of CO2 and smog free electricity
[13:33] herman Bergson: That is an issue indeed Bejiita
[13:33] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): and when we all get electric cars what should then produce the power for these?
[13:33] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): we cant wait until its a storm outside (for the wind generators) to charge the cars
[13:34] Pip Torok: the sun?
[13:34] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): wasn't it Madam Curie who invented nuclear power?
[13:34] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): plus often we charge at night when there is no sun and often no wind either
[13:34] herman Bergson: no Beertje..but she did research on uranium and died of radiation illness
[13:34] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): and so the car is fled up before get to work in morning
[13:34] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): filled
[13:35] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): so we need lot of power during the night time for electric cars to be viable
[13:35] Pip Torok: or a means of conserving it at night
[13:35] herman Bergson: Well, Bejiita, guess that is another subject ,,,,but one of the two sides of nuclear power....
[13:35] herman Bergson: It had a good and a bad side....
[13:36] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): 2 edged sword
[13:36] herman Bergson: But that is with everything....
[13:36] herman Bergson: you invent a knife to cut the fruits...or the throat of your enemy
[13:36] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): same at work, i could use an angle grinder as a weapon as well as a tool
[13:37] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): it cuts whatever it touches
[13:37] herman Bergson: an interesting feature of the human being....
[13:37] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): luckily i use tools only as well tools
[13:37] herman Bergson: the intentionality defines the tools he uses, or she uses
[13:37] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): ㋡
[13:38] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): even internet can be a threat
[13:38] herman Bergson: It has driven youngsters to commit suicide, Beertje, yes
[13:38] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): viruses and other shit floating around plus net trolls and cyber attaks
[13:38] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): people attack others without knowing them'
[13:39] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): really sad development :(
[13:39] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): just because there is a machine between they think they can say anything
[13:39] Pip Torok: its what was transmitted that caused her to suicide
[13:40] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): i could never do a such thing
[13:40] herman Bergson: the tool was the internet
[13:41] Pip Torok: averting ones ears to it may be the only answer
[13:41] herman Bergson: Well...maybe I can use this pro and con aspect of things like atoms or tools in the next lecture
[13:41] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): aaa give it a try ㋡
[13:41] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): absolutely
[13:41] herman Bergson: Yes Pip, but for that you need the power to do so...
[13:42] herman Bergson: That is not given to everyone, unfortunately
[13:43] Pip Torok: laughter could be that power
[13:43] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): ㋡
[13:43] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): ah
[13:43] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): people who are being hurt can't laugh about it
[13:43] herman Bergson: oh, I agree....but when it hurt, what is sent to you.....it will be hard for some to laugh
[13:44] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): well thats true
[13:44] Pip Torok: i was thinking of laughter as having the means to avert the hurt
[13:45] herman Bergson: Might help...but you first have to be able to start laughing...
[13:45] herman Bergson: Some time ago I received an email
[13:45] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): hugs then, but u have to be physically there
[13:46] herman Bergson: the message was that I was a pervert and that everything was recorded with the camera of my computer...they had registered all porn sites and my actions related to that
[13:46] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): aaa that one
[13:46] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): crazy stuff
[13:46] herman Bergson: And they would send it to all my contacts....the movies...
[13:46] herman Bergson: unless of course I would pay lots of euros...
[13:47] herman Bergson: That I handled and neutralized with laughter indeed
[13:47] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): in bitcoin i guess
[13:47] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): ㋡
[13:47] herman Bergson: hehe...yes Bejiita :-)))
[13:48] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): that is why i don't like bitcoin, its not used for enything legal, it just consumes a lot of electricity and finances things like these + cryptlocker viruses and similar
[13:48] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): that's not a personal attack i guess
[13:49] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): it doesn't hurt you in the heart
[13:49] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): entire dark web runs in bitcoin
[13:49] herman Bergson: The mail mentioned my account name AND password....!
[13:49] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): can be hacked out
[13:49] herman Bergson: rpoblem was that it was a password I have used more than 10 years ago indeed....very peculiar :-))
[13:49] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): part of the script
[13:49] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): but still creepy
[13:50] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): THAT is interesting, must have been some old cache or similar
[13:50] herman Bergson: I must admit Bejiita....it was a bit creepy indeed...but yet I laughed :-)
[13:50] Pip Torok: 10 years ago not many of us were security-conscious
[13:50] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): they try ANYTHING these days and pick random victims
[13:50] herman Bergson: True, Pip
[13:51] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): to get cash
[13:51] Pip Torok: like predators seeking prey
[13:51] herman Bergson: So far not a single movie with me in it has gone viral....:-)
[13:51] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): to buy the next joint with
[13:52] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): much of this is just to finance narcotics use
[13:52] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): could be a best seller Herman
[13:52] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): these hackers are all crackpots i guess at least most of them
[13:52] herman Bergson: Yes Beertje...and I have already an advise for the music .....the song "Dirty old man...." :-)
[13:52] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): smiles
[13:52] Pip Torok: we all have our various needs ... for some it is narcotics
[13:53] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): the really bad things happen when part of the money finance weapons and soon its BOOM KABLAM in your neighbourhood with gang wars and innocents being killed
[13:53] herman Bergson: Yes Pip...the problem there is that some narcotics are legal and can be bought in a store and others are illegal
[13:54] herman Bergson: But we are cosy off topic again :-)
[13:54] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): as it should be by now
[13:54] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): ㋡
[13:54] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): as always :)
[13:54] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): hehe
[13:54] herman Bergson: Indeed bejiita ^_^
[13:54] herman Bergson: Time to digest it all and dismiss class :-)
[13:54] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): when u think How did we end up here starting with this?
[13:55] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): well time for next show
[13:55] herman Bergson: So...thank you all again for your participation :-)
[13:55] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): cu thursday same time
[13:55] herman Bergson: Class dismissed ...
[13:55] CB Axel: Thank you, Herman.
[13:55] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): thank you Herman
[13:55] Pip Torok: yes, thank you
[13:55] herman Bergson: My pleasure CB :-)
[13:55] CB Axel: See you Thursday.
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