You&#x27;ve got this backward. Alpha is the fundamental physical constant: c, e and \hbar are the derived quantities. I&#x27;ll quote part of another comment that I left on this thread:<p>&gt; Now for a piece that&#x27;s more interesting. The fine-structure constant (alpha) is the coupling constant that sets the strength of electromagnetism. This means that its value is the thing that matters in the equation: e^2&#x2F;\hbar c. Each of the other values is a derived quantity. Further, to speak a bit loosely, only changes in alpha matter -- in the sense that if the speed of light (c) changes, but the other constants (e and \hbar) change in a way that keeps alpha the same, then you wouldn&#x27;t be able to tell with an experiment that anything has changed.<p>&gt; Contrast this situation w&#x2F; a change in alpha -- a table-top experiment would be able to detect the change (given that it&#x27;s large enough, and we have methods of measuring changes on year-time scales that are a few parts in ~10^-18 (Rosenband, 2008)), as it would mean that physics has changed in a fundamental way.<p>&gt; <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;phys.columbia.edu&#x2F;~millis&#x2F;1900&#x2F;readings&#x2F;Science-2008-Rosenband-1808-12.pdf" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;phys.columbia.edu&#x2F;~millis&#x2F;1900&#x2F;readings&#x2F;Science-2008-...</a>