Richard Dawkins, the Oxford zoologist and author, once said that "science is the poetry of reality", an observation that inspired a new video from the people who run the Symphony of Science project.
Another link can be made between science and poetry when scientific discoveries inspire people to write poems. Jonathan Taylor, a Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at De Montfort University in the UK, wrote a poem about the deep note generated by a black hole in the Perseus galaxy cluster.
Jonathan is not only a poet, but a memoirist and novelist.
"I first came across the fascinating idea that the supermassive black hole emitted a B-flat on a T.V. programme, and it instantly caught my imagination. I've always written a great deal about both music and science, and here I had the opportunity to combine both interests in one poem. There's real beauty, music and poetry in contemporary cosmology, yet it's a subject that's often overlooked by writers." - Jonathan Taylor
Black Hole in B-Flat
Astronomers using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory have found, for the first time, sound waves from a supermassive black hole...
(N.A.S.A., September 9th, 2003)
For 2.5 billion years you've groaned,
B-flat 57 octaves below middle-C.
For 2.5 billion years you've moaned
for no one, because no one
could hear you from Perseus Cluster,
250 million light years away,
your galactic ground-bass a million billion
times lower than human hearing,
dog hearing, even Keplerian hearing,
who would have been hard pushed
to retain an equal temperament
in the face of such monotony —
more monkish medieval drone
than planetary polyphony,
as if Palestrina never happened,
and Bach dozed off at the organ
shortly after the Big Bang,
his elbow resting on a pedal point
over which he dreamt his flickering fugues,
short-lived as novas,
short-lived as life,
short-lived as anything but you,
and all-too-soon
sucked back down
into your B-flat abyss.
- chandra's blog
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Great Poem
Hi Chandra, thanks for sharing amazing poem of Jonathan Taylor.
Science is the poetry of reality
Yes, the science is the poetry of reality, the reality is most beauty,the space, the stars, the universe, the galaxy, our planet, or simply a flower. Its great! A black hole is wonderful.
very nice
Amazing poem! As a writer myself, I find it hard to write poems (not my forte) especially if it's about science. Jonathan is very good, lovely poetry. Alvin G., Writer and Researcher, Millionaire Mind
superb
This is superb, one of the best poems I ve ever seen, so perfect and so realistic with even scientific. I am wondering how beautifully you mixed both the science and arts together. Superb dear.
Superb poetry, I love the
Superb poetry, I love the way this has been presented in line with the universe...We're talking about billions of years here, are we even awake?
Sandra
Amazing
We're all stardust. Very nice poem.
It reminded me of this poem by Robert Frost
CANIS MAJOR
The great Overdog,
That heavenly beast
With a star in one eye,
Gives a leap in the east.
He dances upright
All the way to the west,
And never once drops
On his forefeet to rest.
I'm a poor underdog,
But to-night I will bark
With the great Overdog
That romps through the dark.
Astronomy and poetry go hand in hand. Great stuff.
Best regards,
The I.M.Greenleaf
There's real beauty, music
There's real beauty, music and poetry in contemporary cosmology. I really enjoyed a lot watching these images. Thanks for sharing.
There's real beauty, music
There's real beauty, music and poetry in contemporary cosmology, yet it's a subject that's often overlooked by writers.
so nice. This is great.
So nice. This is great. Best of luck and keep up the good work.Well don't know whats going on but its not a Good way to do this. in my opinion we have to look again about this Pt cruiser,seo services
Very nice
Hi, I really enjoyed your poem and this blog so I decided to leave a comment to say so :) Thanks for all the awesome articles!
Very nice
Very nice blog.
interested
I thought I would leave my first comment. I don't know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.
I really enjoyed a lot
I really enjoyed a lot watching these images. Thanks for sharing.
I really appreciate his work
I really appreciate his work and i think it is really the greatest art. Take care.
Sincerely,
Russian brothers.
Hi
Very nice poetry. thank you.