Science by Accident: Poems Inspired by Science

Abstract

I have had so many biology and other science classes that I automatically think about the world in scientific terms. Once I found a slug while I was building a trail and gleefully announced to my trail-building companion that terrestrial gastropods were hermaphroditic. To me it meant that the slug I had found was simultaneously both male and female. To my friend, however, it was utter gibberish. This is what I call “science by accident.” Not that it’s a bad thing—penicillin was discovered by accident! But I do have to be mindful of who I am talking with and which terms they are going to understand. There may be terms or concepts in this collection of poems that you will not be familiar with, but I encourage you to look into them. The world is truly a fascinating place, and there is always more to discover. Who knows, perhaps science will become so engrained in you that it even comes out in your poetry the same way it does in mine! I hope you enjoy discovering “Science by Accident”