“By extending our techniques—and if necessary our definitions—still further
we can infer the time duration of still faster physical events. We can speak of the
period of a nuclear vibration. We can speak of the lifetime of the newly discovered
strange resonances (particles) mentioned in Chapter 2. Their complete life occupies
a time span of only 10-24
second, approximately the time it would take light
(which moves at the fastest known speed) to cross the nucleus of hydrogen (the
smallest known object).”