The poetry of (POP) science

Only one person from CERN, Thomas Otto, was among the winners of the POPScience international poetry competition recently run in the framework of the EU-funded project of the same name. The TE Departmental Safety Officer won in the English category with three poems inspired by CERN and its people.

 

Thomas Otto in Building 180 with an LHC magnet, one of the sources of inspiration of his poetry.

 

After participating as a volunteer in the 2014 European Researchers’ Night – when the POPScience poetry competition was officially launched – Thomas Otto decided to take part in the contest with three poems inspired by CERN. “I’ve always been interested in poetry, but only as a reader,” says Thomas. “At that point I felt inspired and I began to think about all the associations and metaphors I could create to describe CERN and its life to a non-scientific audience.”

The three poems pay homage to the LHC, the CMS experiment and life at CERN. During LS1, Thomas spent time walking in the tunnel, and that was where he found his inspiration. “I couldn’t help wondering how I could put my thoughts into images,” he explains. He thus chose the “cold” theme for the LHC poem, to represent the uniqueness of the machine, colder than outer space, and went on to describe the acceleration of protons using evocative images.

Among the CERN experiments he was particularly inspired by CMS “because of its elegance and compactness,” he explains. “When visiting CMS you can see the whole experiment and realise how beautiful it is.” Thomas also thought about the magnetic field that “moves” the particles and visualised the giant and colourful CMS detector as “a mythical animal hunched deep in its cave, swallowing bunches of protons”, which then collide to “recreate the origins” of our Universe.

After writing two science-related poems, he decided to dedicate his last one to the people working at CERN. “I find it rather funny that scientists and technicians are addressing very complex issues in their daily working routine, but then have to face the apparently trivial problem of finding a parking space or queuing endlessly at the restaurants,” he concludes.

Thomas Otto's winning poems

II - LHC

Cold
Ice cold
Arctic cold
Nitrogen cold
Argon cold
Helium cold
Colder than the cosmos:
Superfluid helium cold

In the cold,
Powerful currents
Engender magnetic forces
Ushering protons left and right.

Protons travelling on the crests of ethereal waves
Close to light speed
100 billion at a time, a galaxy of protons.

Wave after wave emerging from the cold
Spilling galaxies into the void
Galaxies of protons collide
To recreate the origins.”

II – CMS

A cylinder from glass and steel,
A mythical animal hunched deep in its cave,
Swallowing bunches of protons,
Like a frog catching flies.

Protons colliding, the debris on paths bent by magnetic forces
Electrical signals through a network of cables
The animal’s thoughts light up,
A memory of the origins.

III - CERN

Bright minds
Tackling tough problems:
Accuracy of the data,
Beauty of the theory,
And origins of the visible universe.

Seasoned researchers,
At ease with latest physical science:
Handling strings and triggers,
Seeing light in crystals,
And integrating over 26 hidden dimensions.

At lunchtime,
A challenge like no other:
Looking for a parking space,
Queuing for a menu,
And searching a place to put their meal tray.

You can download Thomas Otto's e-book here. All the e-books by the POPScience winners are available here. 

by Rosaria Marraffino