A Quantum of Truth

Roger Suffling

I first met Niels Bohr on the metaphysical forest’s edge
A caterpillar perching on a nucleus, a particle balanced on a toadstool
Here, or there if you wish.
In an old text-book photo, he sucks on his pipe, at once solemn and impish
What is he smoking?
Is it the opposite of profound truth?
But then why does he ask such elusive questions? (I’m no Alice)
Depending on his energy level he’s in this orbit of thought or that
At peace and at war with himself, so just how does he do it?
And what are the odds that he’s crazy enough to be right? 
And wrong?

The Science

Niels Bohr (1885-1962) was a Danish physicist and philosopher who contributed to our understanding of atomic structure and quantum theory, for which he received a Nobel Prize in 1922. He conceived the idea of complementarity whereby sub-atomic entities could be analysed in contradictory terms as both waves and particles. In World War 2 Bohr was obliged to flee the occupying German authorities in Denmark and was thus entrained in the Allies’ Manhattan project whose objective was to build the first atomic bomb. Thus, he engaged in the atomic outcome of the Second World War but found himself constantly struggling with western political leaders over whether to involve the Russians in the project. After the War he devoted his energies to the peaceful development of atomic energy through agencies like CERN.   

The Poet

Roger Suffling lives in Ontario, Canada. His non-science articles and poetry have been published in Canadian, American  and UK journals including Shot Glass Journal, Morphrog, Poetry Pause, and Environments Journal.  He was a runner-up in the 2020 Night Skies Poetry Competition. He is currently working on a historical novel based on experience as an ecologist in Northern Ontario. 

Next poem: An Ode on a Blobfish by Prema Arasu