Among the notable characters in C.S. Lewisâ?? novel â??That Hideous Strengthâ? â?? the concluding book in his Perelandra trilogy â?? is the scientist Mr. MacPhee, a sturdy-minded and skeptical rationalist based on the young Lewisâ?? own beloved tutor William Kirkpatrick. MacPheeâ??s intellectual descendants still flourish in atheistic and agnostic circles today. But his simple, stout, commonsense materialism badly needs major revision.
Although the Greek word â??atomâ? means â??indivisible,â? weâ??ve known for decades that atoms are actually composed of protons, neutrons and electrons â?? and can be split. Further, along with the rest of the universe, theyâ??re being divided into even smaller â??subatomic particlesâ? bearing such names as â??lepton,â? â??neutrino,â? â??gluon,â? â??muon,â? â??boson,â? â??hadron,â? â??baryonâ? and â??meson.â? Particles called â??quarksâ? come in six â??flavorsâ?: â??up,â? â??down,â? â??bottom,â? â??top,â? â??strangeâ? and â??charm.â? Many particles have mass. But photons and gluons donâ??t.
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