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Table of Contents
About The Book
There raged a thumping cosmic ballyhoo,
A manic dance – a rumpus to arouse
The universe: of Higgs and W,
Electrons, gluons, muons, Zs and taus…
For centuries poetry and science have been improbable, yet constant, bedfellows. Chaucer was an amateur astronomer; Milton broke bread with Galileo; and, before turning to the arts, Keats was a doctor. Meanwhile, scientific luminaries like Ada Lovelace and James Clerk Maxwell moonlighted as poets, composing verse between experiments and equations.
Following in this tradition, theoretical physicist Joseph Conlon spins a dazzling intergalactic epic. Drawing on his scientific expertise, Conlon reveals the origins of our universe through two long-form poems – ‘Elements’ and ‘Galaxies’. Journeying from the Big Bang to the edges of our ever-expanding cosmos, Origins offers a delightful and revelatory adventure through contemporary physics.
Product Details
- Publisher: Oneworld Publications (November 7, 2024)
- Length: 160 pages
- ISBN13: 9780861549122
Raves and Reviews
'Brilliant, "restructuring the known existing facts", to make this admirable, entertaining, attractive account of the origin of the Universe.' — Professor Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell
'The universe is intrinsically poetic, but rarely does someone with expert credentials endeavor to describe it in that mode. Joseph Conlon's two extended poems offer a glimpse into the workings of the universe in galloping verse rich with imagery.' —Sean Carroll, author of The Biggest Ideas in the Universe
'This book offers readers an inventive and refreshing opportunity to engage with modern cosmology, at the same time as contributing to our culture’s long tradition of connecting science with verse.'
– Nature Astronomy
'Joe Conlon is a marvel. His subject – the origin of the universe and our efforts to comprehend it – is vaster and stranger than anything in English poetry. But these fizzy, nonchalantly rhymed, eminently readable poems are also a masterclass in simile. "Elements" and "Galaxies" will tell you about the structure of a hydrogen atom, various intriguing characters in the history of modern physics, and why galaxies’ quantum origins ("rough seas of storm-tossed noise") might resemble Twitter.' —Hannah Sullivan, T. S. Eliot Prize-winning author of Three Poems
'Absolutely wonderful... remarkable... What a gift to the cosmologists and non-cosmologists of the world!'
– Latham Boyle, Cosmologist at the University of Edinburgh
Resources and Downloads
High Resolution Images
- Book Cover Image (jpg): Origins eBook 9780861549122