Book Title: Microcosmology Atom in Jain Philosophy and Modern Science
Author(s): Jethalal S Zaveri, Mahendramuni
Publisher: Jain Vishva Bharati

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Page 216
________________ 198 Microcosmology : Atom many other respects they are indeterminate and uncertain. Now, as we have seen, Principle of Uncertainty is also a scientific dictum enunciated by an eminent physicist Werner Heisenberg in 1927. At that time, quantum physics had defined with great accuracy the mathematical relationships governing the basic units of radiation and matter. But it had failed to reveal the true nature of either. Werner Heisenberg and other eminent physicists declared that there is an element of caprice in atomic behaviour which stems from the very nature of matter and cannot be blamed on man's coarse-grained implements. They added further that there is an element of indeterminacy about the events of the atomic universe which cannot be dispelled by the refinement of measurements, and hence, it is futile to hope that invention of more delicate tools may enable us to penetrate further into the microcosm. A physicist can give an accurate account of electron behaviour so long as he is dealing with great numbers of them collectively, but he cannot locate an individual electron in space in respect of its position and momentum (velocity x mass). The Principle of Uncertainty asserts that it is impossible to determine the position and velocity of an individual electron at the same time, because by the very act of observing its position, its velocity is changed : and conversely, the more accurately its velocity is determined, the more indefinite its position becomes. RULES OF MOTION OF PARAMĀŅU The motion of paramānu in space is subject to the following rules : Spontaneous motion is in 'anuśreni' which literally means straight line but which really means the minimum distance between the two space-points. If the geometry of the lokākāśa is Euclidian, then it will be a straight line, but if this geometry is non-Euclidian, as asserted by General Theory of Relativity, then the minimum distance may be a curved line. Since the space of lokākāśa is accepted to close upon itself, the latter alternative is a greater possibility. According to the rules and propagation of radiation in space, light also travels in a straight line (if free from the influence of external forces). But, because, the modern cosmology accepts the geometry of the space as non-Euclidian (i.e. it closes upon itself), the path of light also will be curved. Motion of a paramāņu under the influence of external forces may also be in višreni i.e. with

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