Orangutangents

A Bee in a Cathedral

As you've probably noticed by now, I rather enjoy odd little factoids, and I noticed this one in one of my kids books recently. 

"If a normal atom was blown up to the size of a Cathedral (not sure which one, pick your favourite), the nucleus would be the same size as bee."

I love analogies, and I know it's a kids book, but there's no data given on the size of the cathedral, the type of bee, how the bee got in the cathedral, or even if there are flowers nearby so the poor things doesn't starve.

Was it a bumble bee, a red bottomed bee, or Eric the Half a Bee? I can't live with this limited information. Kids aren't stupid, and they've not been beaten into corporate submission like most adults. They'll be asking the same questions, or worse, questions that can't be answered like 'Why?'

More information, more! Brian is starving on a diet of data insufficient analogy.

Normal? What is a normal atom? Does it get up at 0730, have a piece of toast and a coffee, and go to work on the bus? Does it get annoyed by molecules, pestered by quarks? Does it have positive or negative days? 

I can't take it any more... I want to be a tree...

Editor's note: Brian is comfortable, the padding in his cell is helping and the jacket has been adjusted for his comfort and security. No bees were harmed in the making of this analogy.