Gustave Le Bon's Evolution of Matter
INTRODUCTION
“This work is devoted to the study of the Evolution of Matter — that is to say, of the fundamental component of things, of the substratum of the worlds and of the beings which exist on their surface. It represents the synthesis of the experimental researches which I have during the last eight years published in numerous memoirs. In their result they have shown the insufficiency of certain fundamental scientific principles on which rests the edifice of our physical and chemical knowledge.
According to a doctrine which seemed settled forever, and the building up of which has required a century of persistent labour, while all things in the universe are condemned to perish, two elements alone, Matter and Force, escape this fatal law. They undergo transformations without ceasing, but remain indestructible and consequently immortal.
The facts brought to light by my researches, as well as by those to which they have led, show that, contrary to this belief, matter is not eternal, and can vanish without return.
They likewise prove that the atom is the reservoir of a force hitherto unrecognized, although it exceeds by its immensity those forces with which we are acquainted, and that it may perhaps be the origin of most others, notably of electricity and solar heat.”
Source: Archive.org
