"THE MID-TWENTIETH CENTURY ATOM"
Sta,—Professor Dingle, in his letter in The Spectator of December 13th, states that "there is no strict limit to the number of orbits in which the electron can move." Perhaps might draw his attention to his own book, Sub-Atomic Physics (1940), p. 113, where he says: "We have seen that an atomic electron can revolve in a large number of different orbits." I am unable to say how Professor Dingle arrives at the conclusion that "a large number" can be defined as an unlimited number. As for my definition of "unstable," which Professor Dingle nowhere admits that I clearly defined in "a restricted sense," he is quite entitled to object to the defini- tion if it receives general application. He says that a critic might object to his diction if he defined a pagan philosopher as an Anglican clergyman. I can assure him that hundreds of Anglo-Catholic clergymen would endorse his definition if he added, "In ia restricted sense, by Anglican clergyman I mean the modernist clergyman."—Faithfully yours, .Holy Trinity Vicarage, Canning Town, .E. i6. M. DAVIDSON.
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