I consider it a good day when I can add a word to my vocabulary or a
heretofore unknown (by me) fact to my knowledge base. This is probably a
silly notion, but today
a simple article struck three notes in my brain. While I love reading
and writing fiction, I'm most likely to arrive at an epiphany through
non-fiction. For example, few things from fiction have left the
impression on me that reading of Watson & Crick's discoveries of RNA
and DNA did in the early sixties.
Today I opened the June issue of Nat Geo and discovered an interesting paragraph:
"Few objects seem as familiar as the sun - there it is up in the sky every sunny day - yet few are so strange. Look through a solar telescope, and the quotidian yellow disc is transformed into a dynamic wonderland, where planet-size prominences rise into black space like glowing jellyfish, only to loop and slither back hours or days later, as if enthralled by some unseen force."
First of all, thanks to my friend Ben, quotidian already existed in my vocabulary, a recent addition. Second, while I didn't take Physics before the fourth state of matter was promulgated, I don't recall it being touched on in my very elemental physics class. If I read about it when I read Asimov on Quantum Physics, it didn't stick with me, so I did add something knew to my knowledge base today.
Lastly, as writer, I couldn't help noticing two things about the paragraph. One, for an introduction to a scientific article, it's incredibly poetic. Two, in light of recent discussions on our writing list about lengthy sentences, it is a very long sentence. I've looked at it several times, several ways, and I see no way in which it would be improved by any abridgement.
Today I opened the June issue of Nat Geo and discovered an interesting paragraph:
"Few objects seem as familiar as the sun - there it is up in the sky every sunny day - yet few are so strange. Look through a solar telescope, and the quotidian yellow disc is transformed into a dynamic wonderland, where planet-size prominences rise into black space like glowing jellyfish, only to loop and slither back hours or days later, as if enthralled by some unseen force."
First of all, thanks to my friend Ben, quotidian already existed in my vocabulary, a recent addition. Second, while I didn't take Physics before the fourth state of matter was promulgated, I don't recall it being touched on in my very elemental physics class. If I read about it when I read Asimov on Quantum Physics, it didn't stick with me, so I did add something knew to my knowledge base today.
Lastly, as writer, I couldn't help noticing two things about the paragraph. One, for an introduction to a scientific article, it's incredibly poetic. Two, in light of recent discussions on our writing list about lengthy sentences, it is a very long sentence. I've looked at it several times, several ways, and I see no way in which it would be improved by any abridgement.
