April 1, 2001
Nobel Prize Awards
Physics 1901 Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen 1902 The prize was awarded jointly to: Hendrik Antoon Lorentz and Pieter Zeeman 1903 The prize was divided, one half being awarded to Antoine Henri […]
April 1, 2001
Conversation with a Stone
From the Polish. I knock on the stone's door. —It's me, let me in. I want to come inside, look all around; breathe you in. —Go away—says […]
April 1, 2001
The Age of a Wart*
Warts, the little pinheads sprinkled on the fingers, are said to live two years. Even a big bumpy rockeake of a wart dies in much the same time. A wart […]
April 1, 2001
Three Words Most Strange
From the Polish. As I utter the word Future, the first syllable has already slipped into the past. As I utter the word Silence, I shatter it. As […]
April 1, 2001
To Robert Lowell
From the Polish. I had no right to talk of you that way, Robert. An émigré's envy Must have prompted me to mock Your long depressions, weeks of terror, […]
April 1, 2001
From Oxygen: A Play in Two Acts
Synopsis What is discovery? Why is it so important to be first? These are the questions that trouble the people in this play. “Oxygen” alternates between 1777 and 2001—the Centenary […]
April 1, 2001
Prelude to Discovery
Some of the factors which characterise an environment conducive to fruitful and innovative scientific research are rather obvious: freedom and encouragement for individuals who wish to follow new leads spurred […]
April 1, 2001
Naguib Mahfouz: A Translator’s View
Naguib Mahfouz, who in 1988 became the first Arab Nobel Laureate l in Literature, has published roughly sixty books, covering virtually every style and genre of fiction. His subject has […]
April 1, 2001
The Silence of Plants
From the Polish. The one-sided acquaintance between me, and you, is proceeding, in a way. I know every leaflet, every petal, ear, cone, stalk; your cycles of life—your […]
April 1, 2001
The Widower’s Tango
From the Spanish. From Residencia en la Tierra (1925-31) Oh Maligna, now you've found the letter, now you've cried with rage, and you've insulted the memory of my mother, […]
April 1, 2001
Creativity in the Arts and the Sciences
NOTE: In 1981 I wrote a paper bearing the same title for the bicentennial meeting of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In the subsequent two decades, our understanding […]
April 1, 2001
Prescription
From the Polish. Everything but confessions. My own life Annoys me so, I would find relief In telling about it. And I would be understood By those wretches—how many!—who wobble […]