Book and Media Review pubs.acs.org/jchemeduc
Review of Atomic Romances, Molecular Dances Stephen R. Pruett* Department of Chemistry, Jefferson Community and Technical College, Louisville, Kentucky 40202, United States then follow poems about organic chemistry, quantum mechanics, and biochemistry. Like La Fontaine and his sources, the author utilizes anthropomorphism, imparting names, feelings and desire to atoms and molecules as Aesop gave human characteristics to animals and inanimate objects. Courtship and love (and the associated sexual activity) are frequently analogies for chemical reactivity and those poems not suitable for a young audience are so marked in the table of contents. Atoms or molecules describe some difficulty they face, and describe the process that leads to resolution. The poems deserve consideration on three levels. First, for their intended audience, the poems will achieve their goal and be a source of entertainment. The novelty of the topic and treatment make this collection an excellent candidate for post-AP exam reading in a high school chemistry class or for discussion at student affiliate meetings on college campuses. The trials of a boron atom unable to fit into a carbon matrix or the image of a beaker as a singles bar will evoke smiles from students who “get” both the joke and the chemistry. In addition, Radhakrishnan reported warm receptions from listeners at poetry slams, so you may wish to share her poems with your colleagues outside the chemistry department. For instructors, the poems offer analogies that some may wish to incorporate in their explanations. A few of the poems offer promise as texts for use in a course: “All My Carbons”, for example, offers a roadmap problem of sorts that could be the basis for an assignment in an Organic II class. In general, however, the poems are too long for reading aloud to a class or to assign for analysis. The author may face some criticism from poetry devotees. While her use of rhyme is adequate and sometimes rich, the meter and syntax can be rough. She pairs lines that are unequal in length and uses some awkward inversions of subject and verb. I found some word choices questionable and some metaphors confusing. A few lines lack flow to the extent that I was tempted to contest (or revoke) the author’s poetic license. Some variation in format would be welcome as well. In fairness, however, writing good verse is difficult; writing good chemistry verse must be extremely difficult. Most of us would be at a loss to compose a sonnet or a limerick about chemistry that is worthy of a poet laureate. To illustrate and conclude: Lavoisier was no Baudelaire Nor Faraday a Kipling; As chemists’ poems are quite rare These merit a fair sampling.
Atomic Romances, Molecular Dances by Mala L. Radhakrishnan; illustrated by Mary O’Reilly. Lulu.com: Raleigh, North Carolina, 2011. pp. ISBN 978-145833192-2 (paper). $14.95.
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hemists continue to anticipate and applaud the introduction of chemistry into the arts and popular culture. Be it Tom Lehrer’s “The Element Song”, Primo Levi’s collections of short stories, the off-Broadway debut of Carl Djerassi’s “Phallacy”, or episodes of The Big Bang Theory or Breaking Bad, each work offers hope that our discipline will be more appreciated and, perhaps, more accessible to nonchemists.
Cover image provided by Mary O’Reilly and reproduced with permission.
Consequently, Mala Rahakrishnan’s book of poetry has caused a stir. Recently featured on PBS’ Science Thursday,1 she described these poems as narrative tools to hook students in high school and introductory college courses. Certainly, the use of music in teaching science is not unusual,2 and at least one educator suggests that memorization of poetry by students has more value than suggested by Bloom’s taxonomy.3 So chemistry in the context of a sophisticated literary form is a rare treat that may allow us to convince students that science is not a dry, unmemorable subject. The volume collects poems the author has published previously. The poems resemble the fables of Jean de La Fontaine: each tells a story and summarizes a moral in rhymed verse. The titles are frequently plays on titles or puns (e.g., “Bridge Over Troubled H2O”; “Sex and Acidity”; and “Days of Our HalfLives”). Each poem is two or more pages in length (40 lines or more), with verses of four lines with rhymes in the scheme AABB. The 50 poems are divided into 14 categories. The first 11 resemble the table of contents of a general chemistry text, beginning with stoichiometry and concluding with nuclear chemistry; © 2012 American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc.
So buy a book and share some lines Support the poet−chemist, And place her on The New York Times’ “The Geeks’ Bestsellers” book list. Published: February 27, 2012 433
dx.doi.org/10.1021/ed300068x | J. Chem. Educ. 2012, 89, 433−434
Journal of Chemical Education
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Book and Media Review
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REFERENCES
(1) PBS Newshour: The Rundown, a Blog of News and Insight. http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2011/11/droolingelectrons-mental-athletics-and-beta-decay.html (accessed Feb 2012). (2) Crowther, G. Learning to the Beat of a Different Drum: Music as a Component of Classroom Diversity. http://cf.synergylearning.org/ DisplayArticle.cfm?selectedarticle=598 (accessed Feb 2012). (3) Waddell, A. Why I Force My Students to Memorize Poetry: Despite the Fact That It Won’t Be on the Standardized Test. http:// www.aft.org/pdfs/americaneducator/summer2011/Waddell.pdf (accessed Feb 2012).
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dx.doi.org/10.1021/ed300068x | J. Chem. Educ. 2012, 89, 433−434
