On the sub-mechanics of the Universe

Abstract

1. In this paper it is shown that there is one, and only one, conceivable purely mechanical system capable of accounting for all the physical evidence, as we know it, in the universe. The system is neither more nor less than an arrangement of indefinite extent of uniform spherical grains, generally in normal piling, so close that the grains cannot change their neighbours, although continually in relative motion with each other, the grains being of changeless shape and size, thus constituting, to a first approximation, an elastic medium, with six axes of elasticity symmetrically placed.