It features a brief discussion of the the author's introduction to quantum information poetry, but the highlight is the author's poem about her research.
I could try to define all the terms she uses, but I think in that would cause the poem to lose some of its charm. Much of the piece's appeal comes from the way the author juxtaposes heavy technical references with a light, airy tone. Reading it (at least first) without fully understanding what she's talking about is a neat way of seeing how poetry can make sense even a little out of context.
I wish her the best of luck in getting Physical Review Letters to publish the sequel.
Great find Deborah!
ReplyDeleteSo this obviously takes me back to the class today and our earlier discussion about how good teachers (especially in math and science) use metaphor as a complementary way of teaching complex topics. The line from her poem that stuck out to me was "in place of 'part' and 'piece,' say 'bit'." I know last week Lincoln went into details of spheres that are really bits and how those interact, etc, but the idea of a "bit" was a little weird for me to grasp (I have zero experience with binary). This line made the idea of a bit in quantum terms make sense. I went back to that analysis and it made a more sense. Go metaphor!
One of the things I wondered about in reading this poem, and which I think you've touched on here, is whether this sort of creative application could be used to help teach complicated technical concepts (e.g. quantum physics).
DeleteOn the one hand, I suspect that it could be really useful, especially for classes where a lot of the participants aren't scientists. On the other, I suspect it would be difficult to get students engaged and find time in the syllabus to do such activities.
Still, I think I'd love to see someone give metaphor a shot at explaining technical concepts as more than just a brief example. If both students and professors were willing to engage with it, I think using metaphor/creativity could help a lot of them get more out of courses.