Both Uses of
atom
in
The Idiot
- I am but a poor creature, a beggar, an atom in the scale of humanity.†
Chpt 2.2 *atom = the smallest part of any material that cannot be broken up by chemical means
- It is much simpler, and far more likely, to believe that my death is needed—the death of an insignificant atom—in order to fulfil the general harmony of the universe—in order to make even some plus or minus in the sum of existence.†
Chpt 3.7
Definition:
the smallest part of any material that cannot be broken up by chemical means; comprised of a nucleus of protons and neutrons surrounded by orbiting electrons