Page 44 - Engineering in Nature

Engineering in Nature

splits in two, with each half entering a half shell. The demi- diatoms
then set about completing their missing halves. The next-generation
diatoms consisting of half cells are slightly smaller, and as they divide
more times, these decrease in size still further.

Diatoms multiply very rapidly, some in just eight or even four
hours. That means that in 10 days, just one diatom can form up to 1
billion offspring. Since diatoms are one of the world's most important
sources of oxygen, there is no doubt that this is most essential plan-
ning. If they did not multiply so rapidly, the total quantity of oxygen
produced would remain limited, and this ability of diatoms would be
relatively meaningless.
In even the smallest factory, planning is necessary to regulate the
speed and level of production. Otherwise the factory will either pro-
duce too much or too little, and will eventually be unable to create
new sources for production. For that reason, universities give courses
in production organization and planning.
But how do diatoms carry out planning? Can they possibly know
how many they need to be in order to meet the world's oxygen needs,
and how fast they need to multiply? Diatoms themselves cannot at-
tain the knowledge that human beings can manage only after long,
specialized training.
There is One possessed of will Who inspires in diatoms the neces-

sary speed of reproduction and method to meet the oxygen needs of
other living things. The possessor of that will is our Lord, the Lord of
all, the omnipotent, Who guides all living things and inspires their ac-
tions in them.

• The Ideal Raw Material Created for Human Use
Diatoms' own nutriments are also important to human beings.

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