Difference between revisions of "Radioactivity"
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− | '''Radioactivity''' is the emission of high [[energy]] [[particles]] through the natural phenomenon of the decay of unstable [[isotopes]] of [[chemical elements]] into | + | '''Radioactivity''' is the emission of high [[energy]] [[particles]] through the natural phenomenon of the decay of unstable [[isotopes]] of [[chemical elements]] into more stable forms. |
==In literature== | ==In literature== |
Revision as of 16:40, November 17, 2009
Radioactivity is the emission of high energy particles through the natural phenomenon of the decay of unstable isotopes of chemical elements into more stable forms.
In literature
In H. G. Wells' 1909 novel Tono-Bungay, the narrator muses:
- To my mind radio-activity is a real disease of matter. Moreover, it is a contagious disease. It spreads. You bring those debased and crumbling atoms near others and those too presently catch the trick of swinging themselves out of coherent existence. It is in matter exactly what the decay of our old culture is in society, a loss of traditions and distinctions and assured reactions. ...I am haunted by a grotesque fancy of the ultimate eating away and dry-rotting and dispersal of all our world. So that while man still struggles and dreams his very substance will change and crumble from beneath him. I mention this here as a queer persistent fancy. Suppose, indeed, that is to be the end of our planet; no splendid climax and finale, no towering accumulation of achievements, but just—atomic decay![1]
Notes and references
- ↑ Wells, H. G. (1909) Tono-Bungay, online Project Gutenberg text; search for text string "real disease"