Elemental Haikus

Hydrogen haiku from the Periodic Table of Elements (credit: Science Magazine)

Who knew fundamental chemistry could be so poetic?

Science fiction author, Mary Soon Lee, reviews of the entire periodic table as it were a piece literature. She composed haikus, the traditional Japanese poetic device using three lines, for each element of the table, plus an extra haiku for the yet-to-be-created, element-119. Her concise poems encompass astronomy, biology, chemistry, history, physics, along with clever bits of whimsical flair. This haiku example for the element calcium (#20):

Calcium haiku: The horse's gallop, the eagle's swiftness both framed, by your quiet strength.

                   Periodic Table of Elements with individual haikus (credit: AAAS/Mary Soon Lee)

The haiku rendition of the periodic table is good fun by making using letters and numbers. The fully interactive version with every element containing its haiku is here.

WHB

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