Re: Poem of Interest

[brian whatcott <inet@INTELLISYS.NET>]

I have a sample of Sir Humphrey Davy's youthful output at Bristol:

...But now to awful Reason given,
I leave her dear ideal heaven,
 to hear the voice of Truth....

..and so on.

Then there's well known painter and poet
Feynman, who can be sampled in "What do You care...":

 There are the waves
mountains of molecules
 each stupidly minding its own business
trillions apart
yet forming white surf in unison....

I once was graced to read an extended contemporary verse  (1990?)
couched entirely in the language of physics and in chemical terms,
and it was good.
 But I was so crass as not to save it. Pity.

Brian

At 20:49 3/29/01 -0800, you wrote:
> Hello to the group--
>
> I was again at the libraries of UT in Austin and came across the
> following by David Wagoner.  It is titled "My Physics Teacher" and is
> found in "Landfall: Poems by David Wagoner"
>
> He tried to convince us, but his billiard ball
> Fell faster than his pingpong ball and thumped
> To the floor first, in spite of Galileo.
> The rainbows from his prism skidded off-screen
> Before we could tell an infra from an ultra.
> His hand-cranked generator refused to spit
> Sparks and settled for smoke.  The dangling pith
> Ignored the attractions of his amber wand,
> No matter how much static he rubbed and dubbed
> > From the seat of his pants, and the housebrick
> He lowered into a tub of water he weighed
> (Eureka!) more than the overflow.
>
> He believed in a World of Laws, where problems had answers,
> Where tangible objects and intangible forces
> Acting thereon could be lettered, numbered, and crammed
> Through our tough skulls for lifetimes of homework.
> But his only uncontestable demonstration
> Came with our last class: he broke his chalk
> On a formula, stooped to ctch it, knocked his forehead
> On the eraser-gutter, staggered slewfoot, and stuck
> One foot forever into the wastebasket.
>
> Hope that you enjoyed this.
>
> --
> Carl C. Gaither and Alma E. Cavazos-Gaither
> http://www.angelfire.com/tx/StatBook/
> Authors of:
> Statistically Speaking: Quotations about Statistics and Probability
> Physically Speaking: Quotations about Physics and Astronomy
> Mathematically Speaking: Quotations about Mathematics
> Practically Speaking: Quotations about Engineering and Architecture
> Medically Speaking: Quotations about Dentistry, Medicine and Nursing
> Scientifically Speaking: Quotations about Science
> Naturally Speaking: Quotations about Biology, Botany, Zoology and Nature
>
> Chemically Speaking: Quotations about Chemistry
brian whatcott <inet@intellisys.net>  Altus OK
                Eureka!