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neither hubble nor einstein would be much of a part of that big story。 though no onewould have guessed it at the time； both men had done about as much as they were ever goingto do。
in 1936 hubble produced a popular book called the realm of the nebulae； whichexplained in flattering style his own considerable achievements。 here at last he showed thathe had acquainted himself with einstein鈥檚 theory鈥攗p to a point anyway： he gave it four pagesout of about two hundred。
hubble died of a heart attack in 1953。 one last small oddity awaited him。 for reasonscloaked in mystery； his wife declined to have a funeral and never revealed what she did withhis body。 half a century later the whereabouts of the century鈥檚 greatest astronomer remainunknown。 for a memorial you must look to the sky and the hubble space telescope；launched in 1990 and named in his honor。
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9 THE MIGHTY ATOM
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while einstein and hubble were productively unraveling the large…scale structure ofthe cosmos； others were struggling to understand something closer to hand but in its way justas remote： the tiny and ever… mysterious atom。
the great caltech physicist richard feynman once observed that if you had to reducescientific history to one important statement it would be 鈥渁ll things are made of atoms。鈥潯heyare everywhere and they constitute every thing。 look around you。 it is all atoms。 not just thesolid things like walls and tables and sofas； but the air in between。 and they are there innumbers that you really cannot conceive。
the basic working arrangement of atoms is the molecule （from the latin for 鈥渓ittle mass鈥潱�
a molecule is simply two or more atoms working together in a more or less stablearrangement： add two atoms of hydrogen to one of oxygen and you have a molecule of water。
chemists tend to think in terms of molecules rather than elements in much the way thatwriters tend to think in terms of words and not letters； so it is molecules they count； and theseare numerous to say the least。 at sea level； at a temperature of 32 degrees fahrenheit； onecubic centimeter of air （that is； a space about the size of a sugar cube） will contain 45 billionbillion molecules。 and they are in every single cubic centimeter you see around you。 thinkhow many cubic centimeters there are in the world outside your window鈥攈ow many sugarcubes it would take to fill that view。 then think how many it would take to build a universe。
atoms； in short； are very abundant。
they are also fantastically durable。 because they are so long lived； atoms really get around。
every atom you possess has almost certainly passed through several stars and been part ofmillions of organisms on its way to being you。 we are each so atomically numerous andso vigorously recycled at death that a significant number of our atoms鈥攗p to a billion foreach of us； it has been suggested鈥攑robably once belonged to shakespeare。 a billion moreeach came from buddha and genghis khan and beethoven； and any other historical figureyou care to name。 （the personages have to be historical； apparently； as it takes the atomssome decades to bee thoroughly redistributed； however much you may wish it； you arenot yet one with elvis presley。）so we are all reincarnations鈥攖hough short…lived ones。 when we die our atoms willdisassemble and move off to find new uses elsewhere鈥攁s part of a leaf or other human beingor drop of dew。 atoms； however； go on practically forever。 nobody actually knows how longan atom can survive； but according to martin rees it is probably about 1035years鈥攁 numberso big that even i am happy to express it in notation。
above all； atoms are tiny鈥攙ery tiny indeed。 half a million of them lined up shoulder toshoulder could hide behind a human hair。 on such a scale an individual atom is essentiallyimpossible to imagine； but we can of course try。
start with a millimeter； which is a line this long： …。 now imagine that line divided into athousand equal widths。 each of those widths is a micron。 this is the scale of microorganisms。
a typical paramecium； for instance； is about two microns wide； 0。002 millimeters； which isreally very small。 if you wanted to see with your naked eye a paramecium swimming in adrop of water； you would have to enlarge the drop until it was some forty feet across。
however； if you wanted to see the atoms in the same drop； you would have to make the dropfifteen miles across。
atoms； in other words； exist on a scale of minuteness of another order altogether。 to getdown to the scale of atoms； you would need to take each one of those micron slices and shaveit into ten thousand finer widths。 that鈥檚 the scale of an atom： one ten…millionth of amillimeter。 it is a degree of slenderness way beyond the capacity of our imaginations； but youcan get some idea of the proportions if you bear in mind that one atom is to the width of amillimeter line as the thickness of a sheet of paper is to the height of the empire statebuilding。
it is of course the abundance and extreme durability of atoms that makes them so useful；and the tininess that makes them so hard to detect and understand。 the realization that atomsare these three things鈥攕mall； numerous； practically indestructible鈥攁nd that all things aremade from them first occurred not to antoine…laurent lavoisier； as you might expect； or evento henry cavendish or humphry davy； but rather to a spare and lightly educated englishquaker named john dalton； whom we first encountered in the chapter on chemistry。
dalton was born in 1766 on the edge of the lake district near cockermouth to a family ofpoor but devout quaker weavers。 （four years later the poet william wordsworth would alsojoin the world at cockermouth。） he was an exceptionally bright student鈥攕o very brightindeed that at the improbably youthful age of twelve he was put in charge of the local quakerschool。 this perhaps says as much about the school as about dalton鈥檚 precocity； but perhapsnot： we know from his diaries that at about this time he was reading newton鈥檚 principia in theoriginal latin and other works of a similarly challenging nature。 at fifteen； stillschoolmastering； he took a job in the nearby town of kendal； and a decade after that hemoved to manchester； scarcely stirring from there for the remaining fifty years of his life。 inmanchester he became something of an intellectual whirlwind； producing books and paperson subjects ranging from meteorology to grammar。 color blindness； a condition from whichhe suffered； was for a long time called daltonism because of his studies。 but it was a plumpbook called a new system of chemical philosophy； published in 1808； that established hisreputation。
there； in a short chapter of just five pages （out of the book鈥檚 more than nine hundred）；people of learning first encountered atoms in something approaching their modernconception。 dalton鈥檚 simple insight was that at the root of all matter are exceedingly tiny；irreducible particles。 鈥渨e might as well attempt to introduce a new planet into the solarsystem or annihilate one already in existence； as to create or destroy a particle of hydrogen；鈥�
he wrote。
neither the idea of atoms nor the term itself was exactly new。 both had been developed bythe ancient greeks。 dalton鈥檚 contribution was to consider the relative sizes and characters ofthese atoms and how they fit together。 he knew； for instance； that hydrogen was the lightestelement； so he gave it an atomic weight of one。 he believed also that water consisted of sevenparts of oxygen to one of hydrogen； and so he gave oxygen an atomic weight of seven。 bysuch means was he able to arrive at the relative weights of the known elements。 he wasn鈥檛always terribly accurate鈥攐xygen鈥檚 atomic weight is actually sixteen； not seven鈥攂ut theprinciple was sound and formed the basis for all of modern chemistry and much of the rest ofmodern science。
the work made dalton famous鈥攁lbeit in a low…key； english quaker sort of way。 in 1826；the french chemist p 。j。 pelletier traveled to manchester to meet the atomic hero。 pelletierexpected to find him attached to some grand institution； so he was astounded to discover himteaching elementar