Reference: Essays on Substance
Light has no mass, but it has momentum. This indicates that, according to Einstein’s famous equation E = mc2, light could have a “mass” of the order of 1/c2 in mass units. This amount is so small that it is ignored as mass. But it is still significant as momentum; and we can call it consistency.
CONSISTENCY means “a degree of density, firmness, viscosity, etc.” The use of ‘consistency’ in place of ‘mass’ establishes an equivalence between radiation and matter as two different categories of substance.
The terms SUBSTANCE and CONSISTENCY have not been used in the vocabulary of science because they have not had precise definitions in the past. The Theory of Substance now assigns them precise definitions as follows:
SUBSTANCE
“Substance is anything that is substantial enough to be sensed. We can sense matter, radiation and thought; and, therefore, they are three different categories of substance.”
CONSISTENCY
“Consistency is the measure of the substantiality of substance. Matter has very high consistency called MASS. Radiation has no mass but it has consistency of the order of 1/c2 in mass units. Thought has a consistency so small that it can be sensed only mentally.”
To be part of scientific vocabulary, a term must have precise definition. Newton introduced the terms FORCE, INERTIA, MASS and GRAVITY to science by assigning them precise definitions. We now introduce the terms SUBSTANCE and CONSISTENCY to the scientific vocabulary.
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