Introduction
Science is the stuff of fancy and fantasy. And poetry. Poetic and scientific modes evolved alongside one another as vital ways of understanding the cosmos.
Without the imaginative daring of scientists and poets alike, humanity would remain in the dark ages. In an age lit by the fires of technology, we may be tempted to imagine ourselves a little better than ancients huddled by fires in the shadows of their great temples. Scientific knowledge has supplanted the veneration of the gods. Poseidon no longer topples ships; fluid dynamics, meteorology, and climate change affect currents and the rise and fall of seas.
Yet, poetic descriptions of the world still abound, and necessarily so. Atomic numbers, formulae, and equations; atlases, telescopes, and spacecraft; Petri dishes, microscopes, and litmus strips are inadequate to do the job of poetry, and vice versa. These twin disciplines nurture each other, each urging descriptive precision, each requiring a posture of openness, inquiry, and wonder.
In the third issue of Young Ravens Literary Review, enjoy the chorus of poetic voices that sing of a universe worthy of infinite attention. Herein we find humans as observers of wonder and remarkable wonders themselves. Join with us in the discovery.
Elizabeth Pinborough, Co-editor
Science is the stuff of fancy and fantasy. And poetry. Poetic and scientific modes evolved alongside one another as vital ways of understanding the cosmos.
Without the imaginative daring of scientists and poets alike, humanity would remain in the dark ages. In an age lit by the fires of technology, we may be tempted to imagine ourselves a little better than ancients huddled by fires in the shadows of their great temples. Scientific knowledge has supplanted the veneration of the gods. Poseidon no longer topples ships; fluid dynamics, meteorology, and climate change affect currents and the rise and fall of seas.
Yet, poetic descriptions of the world still abound, and necessarily so. Atomic numbers, formulae, and equations; atlases, telescopes, and spacecraft; Petri dishes, microscopes, and litmus strips are inadequate to do the job of poetry, and vice versa. These twin disciplines nurture each other, each urging descriptive precision, each requiring a posture of openness, inquiry, and wonder.
In the third issue of Young Ravens Literary Review, enjoy the chorus of poetic voices that sing of a universe worthy of infinite attention. Herein we find humans as observers of wonder and remarkable wonders themselves. Join with us in the discovery.
Elizabeth Pinborough, Co-editor