Crystallography

Hugh Oliver is editor-in-chief at the OISE Press.

This book represents an interesting (even valuable) experiment aimed at
marrying art and science—in particular, the art of poetry and the
science of crystallography. That it is foredoomed to failure (because,
although the creative play of the imagination is critical to both art
and science, the perspectives of the artist and the scientist differ
markedly in their view of experience) does not diminish its interest.

Crystallography is organized in five sections: “Preliminary Survey”
(about fractals and lattices and such exotic crystalline materials as
amethyst, ruby, and emeralds), “Diamonds” (which comes closest to
the poetic, because the author draws on his father’s experience as a
gem cutter), “Geodes” (about the geology of crystal formation),
“The Hagiography of Snow” (“Snowflakes embody an absolute
principle of difference”), and “Euclid and His Modern Rivals”
(about such scientists as Max von Laue and Lawrence Bragg). We read that
“frost developing its nocturnal film / reveals neural maps on windows
/ Love. / is the intricate growth of a crystal / in a dream of timelapse
photography.”

As is evident from this fragment, the metaphors are sometimes painfully
forced, at times superficial, and seldom enlightening either
scientifically or poetically. If I wanted to understand crystalline
structures, I would read a chemistry book; if I wanted to discover love,
I would read a poetry book. Only between mysticism and modern physics
are the boundaries, perhaps, beginning to dissolve. Nevertheless, I
congratulate the author on a brave venture.