Poetry Friday – A Scientific Limerick
TO HER FRIENDS SAID THE BRIGHT ONE IN CHATTER
To her friends said the Bright one in chatter,
“I have learned something new about matter:
My speed was so great,
Much increased was my weight,
Yet I failed to become any fatter!”
~~~ A. H. Reginald Buller (1874-1944)
(Note: Mass increases with velocity in Alfred Einstein’s special theory of relativity.)
William S. Baring-Gould, The Lure of the Limerick: An Uninhibited History (New York: Clarkson N. Potter, 1967): 6.
A. H. Reginald Buller was an accomplished mycologist who lead the life of a bachelor professor. His is a fascinating story. Read more about The Poet-Scientist of Mushroom City. Online version of the poem was found here: http://rpo.library.utoronto.ca/poem/303.html
Original art by Susan Taylor Brown
