Story: Gardner Fox Art: Gil Kane Art: Murphy Anderson Editor: Julius Schwartz Appearances: "Birth of the Atom" Heroes: Ray Palmer Villains: none Other Appearances: Jean Loring, Around 8 Nature Club students from Ivy University Locations: Ivy University, Ray Palmer's Ivy University Nuclear Physics laboratory, Ivy Town, Giant Caverns Appearances: "Battle of the Tiny Titans" Heroes: The Atom II (Ray Palmer) Villains: Carl Ballard, criminal Other Appearances: Alma Wilson (a friend of Jean Loring), Jean Loring, Kulan Dar (alien from planet Julnar), Simmons (Bank Personnel), unnamed bank official, Judge, Jury, Prosecuting Attorney, Police Officers, Police Desk Sergeant Locations: Ivy Town Bank, Ivy Town, Ray Palmer's laboratory, Jean Loring's home, Local (Ivy Town) Police Headquarters, Carl Ballard's hideout, Court Room

"Birth of the Atom"
Story Synopsis: Ray Palmer, graduate student, teacher, and research physicist, is testing out his latest experiment to shrink matter. As with all experiments to date, this one ends with the material exploding from the atoms being compacted by his shrinking ray. Using ultra-violet light and focusing it through a lens made of white dwarf star matter, Ray has made considerable progress, but appears to have hit a dead end. His discovery of what proves to be some sort of white dwarf matter had given him a leap towards a discovery, but not enough to complete the process. Lady lawyer Jean Loring bursts in and Ray takes the opportunity to ask her to marry him once more. She puts him off, and this sets the pattern of things to come. Later, Ray Palmer takes Jean and the Ivy U Nature Club on a trip to Giant Caverns, near Ivy Town. During the trip, there is a cave-in and they become trapped in the caverns. Not trusting to leave his experimental lens lying around, Ray had kept it in his pocket in a protective case. Sending the students off with Jean, he finds a small, several inch wide opening that is about 20' up in the cavern ceiling. Mounting his lens near a patch of sunlight, he focuses the rays of the lens on his own body and shrinks for the first time. Since his experiments have all exploded within minutes, he rushes to enlarge the opening. Using the engagement ring that he planned to give to Jean during his next proposal, he manages to enlarge the opening using the diamond and survives to fall into the ray once more, enlarging successfully. Realizing that he had stumbled onto a fantastic discovery, he pockets the lens once more along with a sample of the cavern water that had dripped onto the lens, and assists the class (and Jean) through the enlarged opening. Returning to his lab, he was stunned to discover that there was no secret uncovered in the cavern water and determines that something in his own body has allowed him to shrink and not explode where other items had.