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The Atom's Extreme Makeover
by Patricia F. Hare, M.A.T., M.A.

The following is an excerpt from a course workbook I'm working on titled, The Consciousness Revolution.

One of the main goals of classical/Newtonian physics was to find the basic building block of the Universe. Believing as we did then, we thought that if we could find the smallest particles, we could better control them and become…
   

 
 MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE !!

It was a good idea and made sense at the time. However, as scientists discovered increasingly smaller and smaller particles, things started getting out of hand. The atom (actually, the model of the atom) under this increased scrutiny, changed…and then changed again…and then again...Let's take a look at the model of the atom throughout history.*

The Smallest Bit Model

In 460 B.C., the Greek Philosopher, Democritus, developed the idea of atoms. Break a piece of matter in half, then in half again, then again, and keep going until you get to the smallest piece of matter possible. That smallest bit of matter is an atom. (Note that this model held for well over 2,000 years!)

The Raisins in the Pudding Model

In 1897 A.D., English physicist J. J. Thompson discovered the electron and proposed a new model for the structure of the atom. He knew that electrons had a negative charge and thought that matter had a positive charge. He created a model of the atom that looked like raisins stuck on the surface of a lump of pudding.

The Solar System Model

From 1911 to 1919, Ernest Rutherford conducted experiments, leading to a model of the atom much like the solar system—a nucleus of positively charged matter (protons) with negatively charged electrons orbiting in a manner like planets orbiting the sun.

The Quantum Jump Orbits Model

In 1912, Danish physicist, Niels Bohr theorized that electrons can orbit only at certain allowed distances from the nucleus. When an electron jumps from a higher-energy orbit to a lower-energy orbit, atoms radiate energy. When electrons jump from a low- to high-energy orbit, the atom absorbs energy.

Variations on the Quantum Jump Model

In the 1920s, German physicist Arnold Sommerfeld (with Bohr) expanded the original model to include variations in the orbit due to the presence of a magnetic field: orbits now have "shape," "number," and "tilt." In 1924, Austrian physicist, Wolfgang Pauli added "spin."

The Atom as a Wave Model

In the 1920s, Frenchman Louis de Broglie theorized that if light can exist as both particles and waves, why couldn't atom particles also. Austrian physicist, Erwin Schrödinger took this one step further and formed a model of an atom that was a wave—a harmonic vibration that traveled in circles.

The Probability Distribution Map Model

In 1926, German physicist Max Born thought "Schrödinger's Waves" resembled waves of chance. Then in 1927, German physicist Werner Heisenberg formulated an idea which agreed with tests, that no experiment can measure the position and momentum of a quantum particle at the same time. The visual concept of the atom now appeared as an electron "cloud" which surrounds a nucleus. The cloud consists of a probability distribution map which determines the most probable location of an electron.

?  Who knows where this will go next?

Let's recap:
 

← So, this is where the model of the atom stands today—the Probability Distribution Map. In a little over 100 years, we have gone from an atom being the "smallest bit of matter" to a "cloud of probabilities." Sounds rather vague, doesn't it? That means that all matter (you know—furniture, animals, stars, food, etc.) is made up of clouds of probabilities.

But don't worry, even though the model of the atom has become more obscure, the math behind the model has become more solid! Quantum mechanics, the branch of science that explores and defines the subatomic world, has proven itself to be quite reliable. It's a good thing, because what they are discovering about the atom is often difficult to fathom. In fact, if Quantum Mechanics didn't prove the following, you might find it hard to believe that:

• The nucleus of an atom contains roughly 99.9% of the mass of an atom. If you could make an atom as big as a football stadium, then its nucleus would still be as small as a grain of sand.
   
• More than 99.9% (that's a popular number) of the atom is "empty space" occupied by moving electrons (which weigh very little).
   
• We cannot predict the exact location—only a probable location—of an electron at any given time.

So what does this information about the nature of the atom tell us about the underlying reality of our physical world? There are a number of differing interpretations of the results of the work being done in Quantum Mechanics. The interpretations most frequently accepted by physicists are the Copenhagen Interpretations #1 and #2. 

You can see how the changing model of the atom is changing our ideas about the world and how it works! And this changing model of the atom is at the heart of the scientific paradigm shift now taking place. The quantum world view in many ways describes reality as being very different from—and sometimes exactly the opposite of—the traditional Newtonian world view.

In the Newtonian world view, the Universe functions like a great machine. In the Quantum world view, the Universe functions like a great thought. Newtonian focuses on the parts; Quantum focuses on the whole…Well, take a look at this side-by-side comparison chart:

It is very clear that the right column, the Quantum world view, reflects the Probability Distribution Map model of the atom. Some of the most obvious ways are

• Reality is based upon observation—is subjective
• Non-linear
• Interconnection
• Multiple realities
• Fields of energy
• Random
   

And by comparing the two world views, you can see that there is a dramatic shift going on in how we see the fundamental underpinnings of physical matter—i.e., the Universe. Our organizations and institutions once exclusively reflected the model of the old paradigm—the machine; today they are beginning to look to the new model for guidance.  

Think about that last statement. Why would our organizations and institutions begin to look to the new model for guidance? See if you can come up with at least two reasons and write them on the lines below:

1. ____________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

2. ____________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________
^* Adapted from "Atoms: A short history of the knowledge of the atom", compiled by Jim Walker, Latest Version: Nov. 2004.   Available at http://www.nobeliefs.com/atom.htm.

--by Patricia F. Hare, M.A.T., M.A., Copyright © 2006-2007

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