When I found, at the last moment, that I was going to attend Jeff Pulver's VON conference in Boston, I conveyed my delight to my online friend 'Betsy the Devine'. I had hoped to be able to get together for tea or perhaps lunch with Betsy while visiting Harvard for the first day of the VON conference.
Betsy extended the grace and comfort of her home to me, making my last minute planning wonderfully easy! The Devine/Wilczek household was abuzz with the excitement of a preponderance of best wishes from points far and wide. Frank Wilczek's Nobel Prize for Particle Physics had created a massive influx of praise, adulation, and fond regards--via email also--from thousands of those whose paths he has graced in his lifetime.
While sharing the unique, and lovely home office spaces of Betsy and Frank, it was inspiring to witness Frank's dedicated devotion to answering each and every of these 1,000 + emails.
And so, in honor of my host and hostess, and this momentous occasion, I penned the following Sonnet:
Ruminations on the 1,000 plus emails
Received by a Particle Physics Nobel Prize Winner
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And as you work your way down to the 'M's
You'll find this simple Sonnet sitting here
The verse studded with Quantum Physics gems
In honor of your theory bright and clear.
So 'Asymptotic freedom' does suggest
That Quarks in close confinement are so free
And decreased interactions do not test
The binding force of Gluons, so you see.
Now Quarks and Leptons are those building blocks
That construct matter -- El`e*men"ta*ry
And Mesons, Protons, Neutrons do give 'Vox'
To Muster Mark's Quarks numbered also three.
From Particles on to Cosmology
In pure delight and wisdom may you be.
In response to my sonnet, and to the thousands of congratulations he received via email, Frank Wilczek shared a sonnet he had also penned--Sonnet for a Quark.
By the way, Frank's Nobel Lecture will be held Wednesday, December 8 in Aula Magna, Stockholm University. Thanks again Betsy and Frank for your wonderful hospitality!
K-Collector Topics: Jeff Pulver email Harvard Betsy Devine Frank Wilczek