This public domain image from the NASA\/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows Sh 2-106, or S106 for short. This is a compact star-forming region in the constellation Cygnus (\u201cThe Swan\u201d). A newly-formed star called S106 IR is shrouded in dust at the center of the image, and is responsible for the surrounding gas cloud\u2019s hourglass-like shape and the turbulence visible within. Light from glowing hydrogen is colored blue in this image.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
John Updike wrote this poem (entitled \u201cThe Dance of the Solids\u201d) after he read the September 1967 issue of\u00a0<\/em>Scientific American, which was devoted to materials. It appeared fifty years ago in his book\u00a0<\/em>Midpoint and Other Poems (New York:\u00a0Alfred A. Knopf, 1969):<\/em><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
All things are Atoms: Earth and Water, Air<\/span>
\nAnd Fire, all,\u00a0Democritus<\/em>\u00a0foretold.\u00a0<\/span>
\nSwiss\u00a0Paracelsus<\/em>, in\u2019s alchemic lair,<\/span>
\nSaw Sulfur, Salt, and Mercury unfold<\/span>
\nAmid Mellennial hopes of faking Gold.\u00a0<\/span>
\nLavoisier<\/em>\u00a0dethroned Phlogiston; then<\/span>
\nMolecular Analysis made bold\u00a0<\/span>
\nForays into the gases: Hydrogen<\/span>
\nStood naked in the dazzled sight of Learned Men.<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Solid State, however, kept its grains<\/span>
\nOf Microstructure coarsely veiled until<\/span>
\nX-ray diffraction<\/em>\u00a0pierced the Crystal Planes<\/span>
\nThat roofed the giddy Dance, the taut Quadrille<\/span>
\nWhere Silicon and Carbon Atoms will<\/span>
\nLike Valencies, four-figured, hand in hand<\/span>
\nWith common Ions and Rare Earths to fill\u00a0<\/span>
\nThe lattices of Matter, Glass or Sand,<\/span>
\nWith tiny Excitations, quantitatively grand.<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
The\u00a0Metals,<\/em>\u00a0lustrous Monarchs of the Cave,<\/span>
\nAre ductile and conductive and opaque\u00a0<\/span>
\nBecause each Atom generously gave<\/span>
\nIts own Electrons to a mutual Stake,\u00a0<\/span>
\nA Pool that acts as Bond. The Ions take\u00a0<\/span>
\nThe stacking shapes of Spheres, and slip and<\/span>
\nWhen pressed or dented; thusly\u00a0Metals<\/em>\u00a0make<\/span>
\nA better Paper Clip than a Window,<\/span>
\nAre vulnerable to Shear, and heated, brightly glow.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ceramic<\/em>, muddy Queen of human Arts,<\/span>
\nFirst served as simple Stone. Feldspar supplied<\/span>
\nCrude Clay; and Rubies, Porcelain, and Quartz<\/span>
\nCame each to light. Aluminum Oxide<\/span>
\nIs typical \u00ac\u2013 a Metal is allied<\/span>
\nWith Oxygen ionically; no free<\/span>
\nElectrons form a lubricating tide,\u00a0<\/span>
\nHence, Empresslike,\u00a0Ceramics<\/em>\u00a0tend to be\u00a0<\/span>
\nResistant, porous, brittle, and refractory.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Prince\u00a0Glass, Ceramic<\/em>\u2018s son, though crystal-clear<\/span>
\nIs no wise crystalline. The fond Voyeur\u00a0<\/span>
\nAnd Narcissist alike devoutly peer<\/span>
\nInto Disorder, the Disorderer<\/span>
\nBeing Covalent Bondings that prefer<\/span>
\nProlonged Viscosity and spread loose nets<\/span>
\nPhotons slip through. The average\u00a0Polymer<\/em><\/span>
\nEnjoys a Glassy state, but cools, forgets<\/span>
\nTo slump, and clouds in closely patterned Minutes<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
The\u00a0Polymers<\/em>, those giant Molecules,\u00a0<\/span>
\nLike Starch and Polyoxymethylene,\u00a0<\/span>
\nFlesh out, as protein serfs and plastic fools,<\/span>
\nThe Kingdom with Life\u2019s Stuff. Our tme has seen<\/span>
\nThe synthesis of Polyisoprene<\/span>
\nAnd many cross-linked Helixes unknown<\/span>
\nTo\u00a0Robert Hooke<\/em>; but each primordial Bean<\/span>
\nKnew Cellulose by heart:\u00a0Nature<\/em>\u00a0alone<\/span>
\nOf Collagen and Apatite compounded Bone.<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
What happens in these Lattices when\u00a0Heat<\/em><\/span>
\nTransports Vibrations through a solid mass?\u00a0<\/span>
\nT = 3Nk<\/em>\u00a0is much too neat;\u00a0<\/span>
\nA rigid Crystal\u2019s not a fluid Gas.\u00a0<\/span>
\nDebye<\/em>\u00a0in 1912 proposed Elas-<\/span>
\nTic Waves called\u00a0phonons<\/em>\u00a0which obey\u00a0Max Planck\u2019s<\/em><\/span>
\nGreat Quantum Law. Although amorphous Glass,<\/span>
\nUmklapp<\/em>\u00a0Switchbacks, and Isotopes play pranks<\/span>
\nUpon his Formulae,\u00a0Debye<\/em>\u00a0deserved warm Thanks.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Electroconductivity<\/em>\u00a0depends\u00a0<\/span>
\nOn Free Electrons: in Germanium<\/span>
\nA touch of Arsenic liberates; in blends<\/span>
\nLike Nickel Oxide,\u00a0Ohms<\/em>\u00a0thwart Current. From<\/span>
\nPure Copper threads to wads of Chewing Gum<\/span>
\nResistance varies hugely. Cold and Light<\/span>
\nAs well as \u201cdoping\u201d modify the sum<\/span>
\nOf\u00a0Fermi<\/em>\u00a0Levels, Ion scatter, site<\/span>
\nProximity, and other factors recondite.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Textbooks and Heaven only are Ideal;<\/span>
\nSolidity is an imperfect state.<\/span>
\nWithin the cracked and dislocated Real<\/span>
\nNonstoichiometric crystals\u00a0<\/em>dominate.<\/span>
\nStray Atoms sully and precipitate;<\/span>
\nStrange holes,\u00a0excitons<\/em>, wander loose; because<\/span>
\nOf Dangling Bonds, a chemical Substrate<\/span>
\nCorrodes and catalyzes \u2013 surface Flaws<\/span>
\nHelp Epitaxial Growth to fix adsorptive claws.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
While Sunlight,\u00a0Newton<\/em>\u00a0saw, is not so pure;\u00a0<\/span>
\nA Spectrum bared the Rainbow to his view.\u00a0<\/span>
\nEach Element absorbs its signature:<\/span>
\nGo add a negative Electron to\u00a0<\/span>
\nPotassium Chloride; it turns deep blue,<\/span>
\nAs Chromium incarnadines Sapphire.\u00a0<\/span>
\nWavelengths, absorbed, are reemitted through\u00a0<\/span>
\nFluorescence, Phosphorescence, and the higher<\/span>
\nIntensities that deadly\u00a0Laser Beams<\/em>\u00a0require.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Magnetic<\/em>\u00a0Atoms, such as Iron, keep<\/span>
\nUnpaired Electrons in their middle shell,\u00a0<\/span>
\nEach one a spinning Magnet that would leap<\/span>
\nThe\u00a0Bloch<\/em>\u00a0Walls whereat antiparallel\u00a0<\/span>
\nDomains converge. Diffuse Material\u00a0<\/span>
\nBecomes\u00a0Magnetic<\/em>\u00a0when another Field\u00a0<\/span>
\nAligns domains like Seaweed in a swell.\u00a0<\/span>
\nHow nicely microscopic forces yield,\u00a0<\/span>
\nIn Units growing Visible, the World we wield!<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 \u00a0 John Updike wrote this poem (entitled \u201cThe Dance of the Solids\u201d) after he read the September 1967 issue of\u00a0Scientific American, which was devoted to materials. It appeared fifty years ago in his book\u00a0Midpoint and Other Poems (New York:\u00a0Alfred A. Knopf, 1969): \u00a0 All things are Atoms: Earth and Water, Air And Fire, all,\u00a0Democritus\u00a0foretold.\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1372,2812,243,2815],"class_list":["post-69406","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-john-updike","tag-poetry","tag-science","tag-updike"],"yoast_head":"\n
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![\"Cygnus](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2017\/02\/lossy-page1-800px-Star-forming_region_S106_captured_by_the_Hubble_Space_Telescope.tif_.jpg\")
<\/a>