Jersey and everything tangible that Jersey people own is made up of “elementary particles”. This is so by definition. In other words, scientists have defined the very simplest particle in matter (in stuff, as it were) as an “elementary particle” when that particle is not made up of two or more particles.
But what forces hold all these elementary particles together to make a single piece of steel in a car engine or a thread of cotton in a dress?
The answer to that is “forces”. So there are invisible forces at work – in matter, in things – in Jersey. See above regarding God’s invisible power being perceived in the things that have been made.
There’s something mind-blowing about these invisible forces. (There will be some loss of accuracy in the précis below – apologies but it’s a précis.)
The simplest force is gravity. This is the force that attracts, for example, the moon so that it circles around the earth – and that attracts the earth so that it moves around the sun and doesn’t fly off on a frolic of its own.
Another is the electromagnetic force. This includes both electricity and magnetism because they are now regarded as one and the same. This force holds together atoms (like atoms of oxygen) to make molecules (of air like the air in Jersey). This same force holds together (within each atom) its electrons and protons (every one of which is an electrically charged particle). This force is vastly stronger than gravity. And, because it is a force that repels as well as attracts, it cancels out so that large bodies, like the earth, will still be held and moved by gravity.
The third and fourth forces are called the strong and weak nuclear forces. Each atom of matter not only has electrons and protons but also has neutrons. The neutrons and the protons (not the electrons) form the nucleus of each atom and neutrons are usually only found there. But they’re not there in a nucleus when “nuclear fission” is taking place – making a bomb or producing electricity. (Scientists continue to study this.) Jersey’s electricity imported from France is largely produced by nuclear fission.
The strong nuclear force is at work only within each nucleus of each atom. One of its functions is to balance the electromagnetic force of each proton in each atom.
What is clear is that all four forces at work in Jersey (as you are reading, all the time) are balancing each other. The earth is not falling out of the sky. A computer screen is not exploding – or collapsing.
And the mind-blowing thing relates to this fine-tuning of the forces between themselves. Theoretical physicist Paul Davies (in ‘God and the New Physics’ Penguin Books) has calculated that, if the ratio of the strong nuclear force to the electromagnetic force had been different by one part in 100,000,000,000,000,000 no stars could have formed. Isn’t Jersey “lucky” to have stars....
Again, the ratio of the electromagnetic force-constant to the gravitational force-constant must be equally delicately balanced. Increase it by one part in 100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 and only small stars could exist; decrease it by one part in the same number and only large stars could exist. Both sizes are universe essentials.
Fine-tuning? Sure. By “accident”? Only one toss of a coin is “right” out of total tosses of 100,000 million, million, million, million, million, million.
Here, then, is scientific evidence of a creator God of infinite designer capability – and whose forces are at work in Jersey. |
