Category: Science Poetry

“In kiln-heating limestone, occasion 
Of fresco’s first step: calcination.   
The process, applied: 
CO₂ thus ‘excised,’ 
Yielding quicklime for next needed station.”   

The 15 April 2024 Twitter limerick was the first of three sequential verses summarizing the fresco cycle.   The sequence is a fitting theme with which to begin the Spring 2025 posts: fresco is Italian for “fresh” (hence the post title), and this art form is a fascinating one to view from a chemistry perspective, among many others.  

“In kiln-heating limestone, occasion /
Of fresco’s first step: calcination.” 

The fresco cycle consists of three steps: calcination, slaking, and carbonation (also called carbonatation).  While I’ve examined the overall process before, this sequence provided a chance to explore each step in greater detail.  

The first step, calcination, is represented symbolically via the equation:
CaCO₃ (s) + heat → CaO (s) + CO₂ (g)

Alternatively, the reaction could be shown with calcium carbonate (CaCO₃) as the single reactant with a triangle, representing heat, written over the arrow (noting here what would be a fascinating tangent on its own: some sources trace this shorthand to the alchemical symbol for fire).  Calcium carbonate is also known as limestone; the more familiar name brings with it the bonus of simpler scansion.     

“The process, applied: /
CO₂ thus ‘excised,’ /
Yielding quicklime for next needed station.”        

Heating calcium carbonate to high temperatures, as in Line 1’s kiln, drives the calcination step to the right, yielding calcium oxide (CaO) and carbon dioxide (CO₂) as products.  

Calcium oxide is referred to as quicklime in the fresco process, and it will be used in the “next needed station” of the fresco cycle: the slaking step, which is what provides the slaked lime (calcium hydroxide) that will become the actual fresco surface.  

(As above, with the symbolic shorthand for heat, sitting with these terms during a break allowed me to explore an etymological question that often comes to mind in teaching this topic.  The “lime” of quicklime and lime plaster comes from the Old English lim, reflecting its stickiness as a building material, whereas the “lime” of the citrus variety comes from the Arabic limah and Persian limu.)  

“One small note for view anthological;
Five lines citing gaze cosmological.  
A sight awe-inspiring;
Synapses rewiring.  
Remembrance is e’er astronomical.”

The 9 April 2024 Twitter limerick provided a brief postscript to the events of 8 April 2024’s “Eclipse Day,” as routine fully re-emerged for the area.  

“One small note for view anthological; /
Five lines citing gaze cosmological.”

Many others celebrated the 8 April 2024 total solar eclipse quite eloquently, via many media. 

My contribution of the five lines of a limerick to the general “view anthological” is rather inconsequential, but it was good to have the established NaPoWriMo 2024 routine with which to reflect on the “gaze cosmological,” even briefly.  

“A sight awe-inspiring; /
Synapses rewiring…”

It is likely that the April 2024 afternoon might be a once-in-a-lifetime sight for me, without significant travel to other areas of totality in the future. Certainly, though, it was the first time I’d seen a true total eclipse, and as a brand-new observation, the moment was awe-inspiring and inspirational.  

“Remembrance is e’er astronomical.”

I generally am wary of using disciplinary STEM terms I don’t know as well as chemistry-specific vocabulary, in these poems.  However, between the eclipse itself and the fact that it had certainly been a big day for the area, it seemed fair to consider the previous afternoon as “astronomical,” in multiple senses of the word.   

“A Monday moment; time stands still: 
Semester’s main attraction; 
A midday midnight madness made
From orbital infraction.  
Crowd celebrates and congregates in 
Spring term’s prime distraction:
A learning goal unparalleled…
Eclipsing interaction.”

The 8 April 2024 Twitter poem continued the previous day’s theme; this verse celebrated the actual day of the Spring 2024 total solar eclipse, visible across much of the midwestern USA.  

I enjoyed the interdisciplinary focus of such a major event, reading several essays that highlighted the unforgettable nature of such a day, as with Annie Dillard’s “Total Eclipse.”  I also had not been aware until the spring of just how many times Emily Dickinson noted solar eclipses in her prolific work, and I was glad to learn more. One of her verses in particular vividly centered the jarring arrival of totality, beginning:

“Sunset at night — is natural — /
But sunset on the Dawn /
Reverses nature — Master— /
So midnight’s — due — at Noon —” 

This post title uses a variation on Dickinson’s fourth line here; the essay is intended to give the day of the eclipse more of its deserved attention (i.e., midnight’s due) than the April poem alone could.    

“A Monday moment; time stands still: /
Semester’s main attraction…”

This Monday had been on my mental calendar for a while, since seeing a partial solar eclipse early in the 2017-2018 academic year.  I had wished I could make the trek to totality during August 2017, and so I anticipated seeing the phenomenon in person until and through 2023-2024. It was striking at a busy semester’s close to watch everyone take the same pause to observe the once-in-a-lifetime sight; afternoon meetings were canceled for an hour, and buildings were empty, as we all looked to the sky.  

“A midday midnight madness made /
From orbital infraction…”

Totality was nearer the prosaic hour of 3 p.m., but I can rarely resist reaching for alliteration.  The “orbital infraction” was a periphrastic take on the eclipse itself, highlighting the way in which the orbit of the Earth around the sun and the orbit of the Moon around the Earth intersected so fortuitously.    

“Crowd celebrates and congregates in /
Spring term’s prime distraction… /
A learning goal unparalleled… /
Eclipsing interaction.”

The ending lines linked the historic sight (the “prime distraction”) to… chemistry vocabulary!  

When a molecule rotates in three-dimensional space, it is possible that some of its atoms can occasionally block one another, incurring an energetic penalty via an “eclipsing interaction,” described in detail in this entry.  The same phrase came to mind, with a much more human-focused interpretation, as I watched groups congregate on this Monday, both on campus and nearby, via conversations and encounters facilitated on a predictable-yet-astonishing afternoon. 

“On the eve of a sight far from typical–
Thanks to junction of orbits elliptical–
Moon-o’er-sun: brief obscuring
Will prove mem’ry enduring 
In tomorrow’s occasion ecliptical.”  

The NaPoWriMo 2024 routine included multiple themed sets of poems, although none of this year’s sequences were quite so esoteric as previous years’ celebrations (e.g., those that had focused on enthalpy or reaction mechanisms in previous Aprils).  The first such set was the sequence of Twitter poems from 7 April 2024 through 9 April 2024, in which all three posts celebrated the spring term’s total solar eclipse.

The corresponding essays will be posted here today and in the next two weeks, celebrating the day before, the day of, and the day after the memorable event (the time “around the block,” perhaps).  

“On the eve of a sight far from typical– /
Thanks to junction of orbits elliptical…”

It is useful to remember how little I need to deviate from a chemistry-only focus before I am apprehensive about using creative writing to celebrate STEM themes!  The total solar eclipse of 8 April 2024 was certainly an event best discussed knowledgeably by an astronomer.  

However, it also felt absurd to ignore such a historic event during a monthlong celebration of science themes, so I confined my “Eclipse Day Eve” limerick to two big points.  One, the orbits of the Earth around the sun and the moon around the Earth both take the shape of an ellipse (as denoted in Kepler’s laws), so I made the case that the famous encounter causing a solar eclipse could be considered a “junction of orbits elliptical.”  Two, I likewise felt confident in designating the event “far from typical,” given that it had been several years since I’d seen even a partial eclipse.    

“Moon-o’er-sun: brief obscuring /
Will prove mem’ry enduring /
In tomorrow’s occasion ecliptical.”

The points raised in lines 3-4 were similarly straightforward.  I knew the time of the actual total eclipse at my location would be brief but memorable, especially if weather predictions held and we had clear skies for the minutes leading up to totality.  

One last point– probably an unsurprisingly one: the spark for this specific poem was the potential rhyme between the “elliptical” nature of the astronomical orbits and the “ecliptical” theme of the day.  (The latter was a newly coined term, but ideally a logical use of poetic license.)

“STEM verse: historic, 
Cross-disciplinary, as
Intriguing efforts will
Semaphores yield.  
Enduring case:
Coleridge, lectures attending 
From Davy, to find 
‘Stock of metaphors’ filled.”

The 6 April 2024 Twitter poem celebrated a famous interdisciplinary intersection of science and poetry, via the story of Humphry Davy and Samuel Taylor Coleridge.  

“STEM verse: historic, /
Cross-disciplinary, as /
Intriguing efforts will /
Semaphores yield.”

This near-double-dactylic verse built on the previous poem; the discussion of constructive interference as a metaphor for rewarding collaborative teaching reminded me of another interdisciplinary endeavor.  

As I’ve written about here before, Humphry Davy, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and William Wordsworth were contemporaries, working in the areas of chemistry and poetry in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.  

Davy isolated multiple elements and invented an arc lamp, among many other scientific achievements; notably, he often gave public lectures on insights, presenting scientific material to a general audience.  Coleridge and Wordsworth are two of the names most associated with the Romantic era, the beginning of which movement is often traced to the 1798 publication of their Lyrical Ballads.  (A fascinating sidenote in Davy’s biography is that he helped to facilitate the editing and publishing process for the second edition of this work in 1800, among other collaborative efforts.)  The cross-disciplinary conversations among Davy, Coleridge, and Wordsworth yielded rewarding insights and ideas, potentially viewed as signals across traditional disciplinary gaps: “semaphores,” figuratively.  

“Enduring case: /
Coleridge, lectures attending /
From Davy, to find /
‘Stock of metaphors’ filled.”

This poem celebrated the most famous quote that I am aware of in terms of the collaboration itself: Coleridge’s comment that he attended Davy’s public lectures on chemistry to build up his “stock of metaphors.”    

The overlap of science and literature is complex and fascinating, and these blog entries are glancing at best.  However, whenever I do use one of my own “stock of metaphors,” accumulated now over the past fifteen years of teaching (unbelievable!), this famous quote inevitably comes to mind. 

“The goal: cooperation while
Maintaining clear coherence;
Team-teaching, research projects:
Meet with increased perseverance.  
Please pardon an inevitable
Vocab term appearance:
Collaboration seeks to find 
Constructive interference.”

The 5 April 2024 Twitter poem shifted from exploring chemistry-specific themes to borrowing one for use in figurative language: using a property of the behavior of light waves to provide a metaphor for optimal teamwork in educational settings.  

“The goal: cooperation while /
Maintaining clear coherence; /
Team-teaching, research projects: /
Meet with increased perseverance.” 

One of my favorite classes to teach is an interdisciplinary seminar in creativity in science and the humanities, team-taught with a colleague in a different department.  This is partly because the subject matter is innovative and inspiring and partly because the act of team-teaching (a.k.a. “cooperation while/ maintaining clear coherence”) is itself an interesting and rewarding challenge.  Unlike my content-heavy chemistry courses, where the grades depend on traditional assessments like homework and exams, the seminar involves readings, discussions, and written reflections; it culminates with a set of research projects with which students explore themes in creativity.  Throughout the semester, “increased perseverance” towards cohesive clarity from the instructors optimizes the learning experience for all involved.  

“Please pardon an inevitable /
Vocab term appearance: /
Collaboration seeks to find / 
Constructive interference.”

Common themes early in several of my chemistry-themed courses are the behavior of light and the attendant “vocab term[s]” involved.  

When light waves interact, two (of many) possible pathways are called constructive interference and destructive interference.  Constructive interference means the peak of each light wave consistently adds to the peak of the other, resulting in a heightened wave and a brightening effect. Destructive interference means the peak of one light wave consistently adds to the trough of the other, resulting in a dampened wave and a dimming effect. [These wave effects (in combination with some others) can be seen in a fun and simple demonstration of “rainbow paper.”]  

This poem borrows “constructive interference” for its central metaphor, noting that a rewarding teaching collaboration can lead to enhanced learning experiences (and perhaps, metaphorically, to brighter days!).

The spectrum electromagnetic;
The light waves e’er peripatetic 
With wide-ranging energies,
Inspiring reveries:
Exploring, insightful, aesthetic.  

The 4 April 2024 Twitter limerick commemorated another common theme seen in multiple National Poetry Writing Months: that of electromagnetic radiation (light) and its myriad roles in scientific explorations and creative work.  This poem sums up a few aspects of light’s behavior as described by scientists and artists.    

“The spectrum electromagnetic; /
The light waves e’er peripatetic /
With wide-ranging energies…”

What we consider typically as light is more precisely characterized as visible light: the ROYGBIV rainbow; light with a wavelength range of 400-750 nm.  It is just one part of the entire electromagnetic spectrum, which ranges from long-wavelength, low-energy radio waves to short-wavelength, high-energy gamma rays.   

Pertinent calculations and vocabulary involving light arise early in General Chemistry and General Physics. One of the earliest examples of one of the most frustrating themes of introductory scientific coursework– that the language can be frustratingly jargon-heavy in the service of precision– is that electromagnetic radiation (EMR) simply means light, just in a more encompassing, “wide-ranging” way.  

Light exhibits wave-particle duality, but many properties of light are more easily understood via the wave model, so that light could be defined in terms of its wavelength, frequency, and energy.  Light has a constant speed of 3.00 x 10⁸ meters per second; it is “e’er peripatetic.”  

“Inspiring reveries: /
Exploring, insightful, aesthetic.” 

Keats famously wrote about the tendency of natural philosophy (science) to “unweave the rainbow”; while I read that action as having both benefits and challenges, it is undeniable that the first three limerick lines here are information-dense.  The study of light has been a historical and epic saga for scientists through the centuries, but the resulting, sometimes-dry language is just one aspect of light’s description and behavior.  

The final two lines allude to a few of the ways in which it is possible to experience and discuss light from artistic perspectives: the beauty of a sunrise or sunset; the warm glow of a candle; a metaphorical flash of illumination.    

“Returning to Table: tradition
To celebrate in rhymed rendition,
Artistic chem-sorter.
The elements’ order;
Ranked properties— note from positions!”

The 3 April 2024 Twitter limerick celebrated a common early theme from these National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo) routines: the Periodic Table of the Elements.  As the title notes, it was thus the “table’s turn” for a poetic highlight.  

“Returning to Table: tradition /
To celebrate in rhymed rendition…”

The Periodic Table of the Elements (PTE) is one of my favorite topics for an early limerick in this annual series.  As a common sight in science classrooms, it is a more accessible topic than many chemistry vocabulary terms that might subsequently be poetically celebrated later in the month.  The story behind Dmitri Mendeleev’s insight in developing the precursor to the modern PTE is both compelling and relatively novel for many audiences.  

These general aspects combine to make the PTE a likely subject to celebrate early on in this “tradition,” via “rhymed rendition.”

“Artistic chem-sorter.”

Sam Kean’s book The Disappearing Spoon includes an interesting approach to the PTE that I’ve occasionally noted in teaching: simply examining its shape. He writes, “Before introducing the periodic table, every teacher should just strip away all the clutter and have students just stare at the thing, blank.  What does it look like?”  

Considering the appearance of the PTE acknowledges its distinctive image as an “artistic chem-sorter.” 

“The elements’ order; /
Ranked properties— note from positions!”

Why is the periodic table posted so widely in science classrooms?  It orients an enormous amount of chemistry-pertinent information within a compact space.  

By examining the order of elements on the PTE, a chemist can determine atomic number (number of protons), bonding behavior (via number of valence electrons), etc.  Likewise, as celebrated in the last line, by comparing the relative placement of two elements on the periodic table, a chemist can explain several qualitative trends between them: Which element has a larger atomic radius?  Which element is more electronegative?  The “ranked properties” can be “note[d] from positions.” 

“A series new-braving the elements:
Some humorous rhymes and some eloquent
(And many just practical!)
Will yield routine tactical
In sixth trial of month’s experiment.”

The 2 April 2024 Twitter limerick laid out the scope and main goals of the month’s writing project. 

“A series new-braving the elements…”

The first line of this limerick had inspired its ensuing rhymes: in drafting the poem, I had been surprised I hadn’t already borrowed the idiom “braving the elements,” in any of my poems and posts previous.  As with past years, the 2024 series of posts would examine the overlap of chemistry and poetry, including common subjects such as elements, the periodic table, and scientific biographies.

“Some humorous rhymes and some eloquent /
(And many just practical!)”

Lines 2 and 3 offered a relatively prosaic take (if still in lyric form!) on the poems posted here.  While some verses posted on this site achieve more of the light tone truly associated with limericks, and some strive for eloquence, the vast majority have begun from the practical fact that many scientific terms are words that have interesting rhymes.  

“Will yield routine tactical /
In sixth trial of month’s experiment.”

I’ve written before about this, but perhaps not this bluntly: part of what is most helpful about the April poems is that I can revisit them weekly here, thus finding a way to fit some creative writing into the challenging chaos of an academic year.  Completing NaPoWriMo is very much a “routine tactical.”  

Iteration is inherent in many aspects of the scientific method, as experimental approaches require time and repetition to optimize; that theme finds an echo in the last line here.  This particular creative writing routine can be considered as an experiment in its own right, with April 2024 as, correspondingly, the sixth trial. 

“In April starts rhymed resolution:
Frame STEM terms in new distributions
Through verse forms familiar.  
The metrics auxiliar
Yield chem-art-poetic collusion.”

The 1 April 2024 Twitter limerick began my sixth attempt at National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo); it also provides a good opportunity to return to this website’s posting routine, for the 2024-25 academic year.  

“In April starts rhymed resolution: /
Frame STEM terms in new distributions /
Through verse forms familiar…”

A calendar year has many different types of starts.  The two most obvious are January 1, of resolution fame, and the start of the academic year in late August.  However, it’s also been fun since 2019 to add a small, self-contained routine in April, writing thirty poems over the month’s thirty days, for National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo). Most of these poems are science-themed: “STEM terms in new distributions / [t]hrough verse forms familiar.”

“The metrics auxiliar /
Yield chem-art-poetic collusion.”

A common theme on this website is that using the artistic techniques of light verse can perhaps help illustrate chemistry concepts in a supportive way.  The lines of limericks and double dactyls ideally become “metrics auxiliar.”  

The month is a chance to formally explore the overlap of chemistry, art, and poetry, described in verse form as “chem-art-poetic collusion.”  The thirty resulting poems from April can then provide the substance of several future weeks of posts’ topics here.