Einstein Among the Daffodils - Issue 19: Illusions
▻http://nautil.us/issue/19/illusions/einstein-among-the-daffodils
Both poetry and physics have a way of turning our expectations upside down—but direct intersections of the two are rare. This makes William Carlos Williams’ poem “St. Francis Einstein of the Daffodils,” which is excerpted below, special for two reasons: It is both an example of such an intersection, and a living testament to a remarkable period in the history of science, when we first realized that time and space were not what they seemed. The poem excerpt describes Einstein’s first visit to the United States, where he was received like a visiting dignitary bearing remarkable news: April Einsteinthrough the blossomy watersrebellious, laughingunder liberty’s dead armhas come among the daffodilsshoutingthat flowers and menwere createdrelatively equal.Oldfashioned knowledge isdead under the (...)