New Worlds Beyond the Atom

When an important scientific discovery is made, articles describing it first appear in scientific and technical publications, after which books are written for the students of the new subject; and finally popular expositions become available for the lay reader. This book represents a departure from the established practice for it is addressed to the general public and it describes discoveries which do not yet form a part of orthodox science. Indeed the phenomena involved are so baffling and appear to be at variance with so many known facts that science will have to expand its present frontiers considerably before it is able to embrace them. But this is bound to take a long time, and so it was decided to put something into print, for it was felt that the importance of the discoveries set out herein was so great that it would be a disservice to the public to withhold from them knowledge of the facts involved and their significance. This book is an attempt, handicapped by the limitations of present-day language, to present an accurate record of what happened between the years 1942 and 1955. Certain theories are advanced, but no claim is made for their correctness or finality: they merely indicate the trains of thought of the experimenters. But undoubtedly, as scientists probe deeper into the mysteries of the subject, further facts will be revealed and new theories will be formulated. The book is as pertinent in this century as when it was written.