Jain Philosophy and Modern Science

Author(s): Nagrajmuni
Publisher: Anuvrat Samiti

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JAIN PHILOSOPHY & MODERN SCIENCE
atom remained indivisible, impenetrable and infinitesimal.
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The Minuteness of the Atom: How minute is the so-called 'atom'? An inference can be made about its minuteness from the fact that 50 shankhas (quatrillions) of 'atoms' weigh only about 2-12 tolas. Its diameter is only a billionth part of an inch. If 'atoms' were placed side by side in juxtaposition, over a lakh of them would be required to make up the. thickness of a thin wrapper paper of a cigarette cr a kite In a small grain of sand there are more than 10 trillion atoms When sodawater is poured in a glass small bubbles come out of the water. If, in order to count the number of 'atoms in one such bubble, three thousand million men were employed and if they went on counting the 'atoms continuously without rest, day and night, and without taking any food or drink, counting at the rate of three hundred per minute, it will take them four months to finish the job of counting the 'atoms' in that one tiny bubble.
While pulling a fine hair, a tiny drop of blood is found at the root of the hair. If, by means of a powerful microscope, that drop could be magnified so that its diameter is six or seven feet, even then an 'atom' therein would have a diameter of 1:1000 of an inch.
From Five to Ninety-two Elements: A jar is made of clay. The jar as a whole or a broken piece of it will