the-BA : Universe Competition

Universe launch at CCLRC Chilbolton Observatory

Nature and Nature's laws lay hid in night:
God said, "Let Newton be!" and all was light.
(Alexander Pope)

It did not last: the Devil howling "Ho,
Let Einstein be," restored the status quo.
("In continuation of Pope on Newton" by JC Squire, Macmillan Ltd)

Writer Terry Pratchett, astronomer Sir Patrick Moore and the Muppet scientists Beaker and Dr Bunsen Honeydew are just some of the people to have submitted poems for universe, a competition launched today to mark both Einstein Year and National Science Week (11-20 March 2005).

It is one hundred years since Einstein’s greatest year, when he published not one, not two, but three influential scientific papers. To mark this occasion, the BA has launched a poetry competition on the themes of time, space and energy, the themes of Einstein’s Theory of Relativity.

“Einstein’s Theory of Relativity was one of the most important theories of the Twentieth Century, yet few people understand its details,” says Roland Jackson, Chief Executive of the BA. “However, its themes – time, space and energy – have captured all our imaginations. For National Science Week, we want to bring out the beauty and complexity of the physical world through poetry.”

The competition was launched at the CCLRC Chilbolton Observatory - used as an advanced experimental meteorological radar, and also as a radio telescope – became the unusual subject of some physics poetry. The 25m dish will be used to project a poem onto for the launch of the Universe competition on the evening of 12 January.

See the full photo here (JPEG 53KB).

Budding poets are invited to submit poems on the themes of time, space and energy to this UK-wide competition. Poems may be in any style, from rhyme to sonnets, haiku to limericks, and must be no longer than 40 lines. There are five age groups:

4-7 years
8-11 years
12-15 years
16-18 years
Adults

The closing date for the competition is 11 February and the winners will be announced during National Science Week 2005.

More information - including how to submit your poem - can be found at www.the-ba.net/universe.

Read the poems here from 14 January...

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