Bohr, Lodge, Atoms

Dr. Neils Bohr, professor of physics at the University of Copenhagen, winner of the Nobel prize in physics for 1922, gave the Silliman lectures at Yale University on The Atom and the Natural System of the Elements. Dr. Bohr was not the pioneer of the electronic theory of the atom, but he has greatly refined and expanded it, and stands with Thomson, Rutherford, Lodge, Millikan as one of the world's foremost exponents of the " new " physics. A few points of special interest in Dr. Bohr's lectures :

P: He likened the atom to the solar system, with the positive nucleus or proton representing the sun, and the electrons revolving in two concentric rings, at maximum distance from each other. This " open " structure is the most significant feature of the scheme.

P: All doubt regarding the existence of the atom has disappeared, and all physicists believe in the main essentials of this picture of atomic structure. There are instruments which make it possible to count atoms with great accuracy.

P: Some atoms are " explosive" or radioactive, throwing off minute projectiles traveling at a speed of several thousand miles a second. The nucleus undergoes reduction after these explosions, and it is even possible to measure its changes.

P: The chemical distinction between atoms is governed by the number of charges in the nucleus, which is the same as the number of electrons in its system. Hydrogen, the lightest known element, has one charge and one electron, like the earth and moon.

P: The ordinary mechanical laws do not account for the stability of the elements under the new theories, for they would not prevent electrons falling into the nucleus. These move in fixed orbits and new ones cannot be created. When atoms are bombarded by free electrons, the electron rebounds or transfers its energy to the atom, in which case there is an emission of light in the spectra. Sir Oliver Lodge, in his installation address as President of the Roentgen Society, London, outlined his own version of atomic theory. The nucleus he believes to be rotating at the speed of light. Surrounding it is ether, stratified into gravitational or electric levels. Electrons moving in these planes counter-balance the attractive force by their velocity. He predicted the eventual finding of 118 elements instead of the present 92.