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Redefining Reality - The Intellectual Implications of Modern Science

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<strong>The</strong> idea <strong>of</strong> a large central mass attracting a smaller external<br />

mass suggested that the atom was similar to the solar<br />

system. <strong>The</strong> planets don’t collapse into the Sun because the<br />

gravitational force attracting them to the Sun is balanced by the<br />

centrifugal force <strong>of</strong> their motion, pulling away.<br />

<strong>The</strong> result <strong>of</strong> this thinking was the solar system model <strong>of</strong><br />

the atom, with the nucleus as the Sun in the middle, and the<br />

electrons orbiting outside.<br />

<br />

But there is a problem here, too. We had long known that when<br />

<br />

Given that the “planets” are negatively charged electrons, if they<br />

<br />

<br />

electron, diminishing the centrifugal force that prevents it from<br />

moving closer to the nucleus. Ultimately, the atom would collapse.<br />

Obviously, a new theory <strong>of</strong> the atom was needed.<br />

<br />

Pullman, .<br />

Von Baeyer, Taming the Atom.<br />

<br />

<br />

science, does it matter if they really understand the science, or is an<br />

evocative misunderstanding equally as valid for art as long as the art is<br />

new and innovative? Should artists receive training in science?<br />

Did alchemy stop being a science when it was given a mystical<br />

<br />

observable fashion, does it always remain a science?<br />

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