Microcosmology Atom in Jain Philosophy and Modern Science

Author(s): Jethalal S Zaveri, Mahendramuni
Publisher: Jain Vishva Bharati

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Microcosmology : Atom
There is a remarkable similarity in the views of the Jains and physicists regarding massless particle. Not only a paramāņu, the smallest indivisible particle, is massless but all catuḥsparsi compositions also have no mass. The quality of mass is found only in astasparsi pudgala.
The above description of the characteristic qualities of a paramānu would naturally introduce qualitative difference between paramānus. But it should be remembered that the difference is only qualitative, that is, in the paryā ya of the different paramānus. From the point of view of substance, every paramāņu is identical to every other. This is the law of Anekānta vāda.
The above elaborate analysis by ancient Jains of colour, taste and touch is as minute as that of modern psychology. But their analysis of smell is as arbitrary as the modern one. Smell can be analysed only into (i) agreeable (ii) disagreeable. Several attempts made in recent years to go beyond this crude classification nearly ended in failure. Thus, where the modern scientists succeeded, the ancient Jains also achieved success, that is, in the classification of other sense-data.
MECHANICS AND MATHEMATICS OF PARAMĀŅU AND SUBATOMIC PARTICLES
Universal Constants
In 1900, Max Plank made a major discovery, one which ranked with the discoveries of Newton. The philosophy and the paradigm of physics, after his discovery never were to be the same, although it took another 27 years for quantum mechanics to fall. His discovery dealt with the fundamental units of matter and energy. It provides equations that define with great accuracy the laws governing the propagation of radiant energy. The extraordinary feature of this theory was that it rested on the assumption that
t energy is emitted not in an unbroken stream but in discontinuous packets which Planck termed quanta'.
Planck is the discoverer of the Planck's Constant' which is a number which never changes. It is used to calculate the size of
1. The latest value of Planck's constant is determined to be 6.62517 x 10-34
joule-seconds