“If alpha [the fine-structure constant] were bigger than it really is, we should not be able to distinguish matter from ether [the vacuum, nothingness], and our task to disentangle the natural laws would be hopelessly difficult. The fact however that alpha has just its value 1/137 is certainly no chance but itself a law of nature. It is clear that the explanation of this number must be the central problem of natural philosophy.”
![“If alpha [the fine-structure constant] were bigger than it really…” quote by Max Born](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/f20/max-born-17349_able_if-alpha-the-fine-structure-constant-wer_1491109.jpg)
