REVOLUTION OF THE CORPUSCLE
A corpuscle once did oscillate so quickly to and fro,
He always raised disturbances wherever he did go.
He struggles hard for freedom against a powerful foe --
An atom -- who would not let him go.
The aether trembled at his agitations
In a manner so familiar that I only need to say,
In accordance with Clerk Maxwell's six equations,
It tickled people's optics far away.
The corpuscle radiated until he had conceived
A plan by which his freedom might easily be achieved;
I'll not go into details for I might not be believed,
Indeed, I'm sure I should not be believed.
However, there was one decisive action.
The atom and the corpuscle each made a single charge,
But the atom could not hold him in subjection,
Though something like a thousand times as large.
The corpuscle won the day,
And in freedom went away,
And became a cathode ray.
But his life was rather gay,
And he went at such a rate
That he ran against a plate;
When the aether saw his fate
Its pulse did palpitate.
-- From Post-Prandial Proceedings of the Cavendish Society, Cambridge, England. Reprinted in Science News-Letter, Feb. 26, 1927.
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Table of Contents -- 3/22/97
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