How Carbon Became 'Atomic Velcro'
Posted by Eric Roston at 6/17/2008 6:34 PM and is filed under sausage-making,Science Writing,Interviews,Books 
So, you're writing a book, and need a controlling metaphor.
A University of Wisconsin--Madison student hanging around in a Velcro suit. Photo: Jeff Miller
Somewhere in the mid-section of 2006 a gentleman-scientist friend of mine put me in touch with a chemist friend of his, Jeremy. I was deep in the pains of learning physical chemistry, and was in great need of a (pro bono) tutor.
Jeremy and I met up at Tryst, where Washington's thirtysomethings gather daily to write their books. I was extremely grateful for the help. We talked about how much science was too much for a mainstream science book, and he took me on a tour of the carbon atom, and how to make the simplest of carbon-based pain relievers, acetylsalicylic acid, better known as aspirin.
A couple of months later, I'd already punched out a couple of chapters. Jeremy and our gentleman-scientist friend met up at Busboys and Poets, where Washington's thirtysomethings gather daily to write their books. Jeremy had read the chapter I'd been working on, and came with comments.
The most significant one, at least to my memory, involved finding the right metaphor to explain what makes carbon so special -- why it holds together everything from the CO2 in the atmosphere to the spleen in your belly. I was dissatisfied with the traditional shorthand offerings, that carbon is the "glue" that holds molecules together. Jeremy said that glue might be a better metaphor for something like silicon, which bonds extremely tightly into inert, matrix solids (think sand; also a clue why, H.G. Wells and Captain Kirk notwithstanding, "silicon-based life" is implausible).
"The thing about carbon is that it makes strong bonds, but it also breaks them and makes new ones," Jeremy said. And that was pretty much it, game, set, match. The whole world made sense, sort of. Every flex of a muscle, every candle flame, every turn around the speedway occurs, to simply matters, because carbon atoms let go the highly energetic bonds they were in, and form bonds with lower energy.
"What about carbon as the atomic Post-It Note?" I asked. This went over well as a solution, and we moved on.
Several minutes later, Jeremy steered the conversation back to the Post-It Notes. "Wait... Post-It Notes aren't that strong. They're more like the hydrogen bonds that hold DNA together. Carbon's bonds are strong -- but not so strong that they won't break. Sort of like Velcro." And that was it. Carbon became atomic Velcro
So, that's where controlling metaphors come from, it turns out: Jeremy.
A University of Wisconsin--Madison student hanging around in a Velcro suit. Photo: Jeff Miller
Somewhere in the mid-section of 2006 a gentleman-scientist friend of mine put me in touch with a chemist friend of his, Jeremy. I was deep in the pains of learning physical chemistry, and was in great need of a (pro bono) tutor.
Jeremy and I met up at Tryst, where Washington's thirtysomethings gather daily to write their books. I was extremely grateful for the help. We talked about how much science was too much for a mainstream science book, and he took me on a tour of the carbon atom, and how to make the simplest of carbon-based pain relievers, acetylsalicylic acid, better known as aspirin.
A couple of months later, I'd already punched out a couple of chapters. Jeremy and our gentleman-scientist friend met up at Busboys and Poets, where Washington's thirtysomethings gather daily to write their books. Jeremy had read the chapter I'd been working on, and came with comments.
The most significant one, at least to my memory, involved finding the right metaphor to explain what makes carbon so special -- why it holds together everything from the CO2 in the atmosphere to the spleen in your belly. I was dissatisfied with the traditional shorthand offerings, that carbon is the "glue" that holds molecules together. Jeremy said that glue might be a better metaphor for something like silicon, which bonds extremely tightly into inert, matrix solids (think sand; also a clue why, H.G. Wells and Captain Kirk notwithstanding, "silicon-based life" is implausible).
"The thing about carbon is that it makes strong bonds, but it also breaks them and makes new ones," Jeremy said. And that was pretty much it, game, set, match. The whole world made sense, sort of. Every flex of a muscle, every candle flame, every turn around the speedway occurs, to simply matters, because carbon atoms let go the highly energetic bonds they were in, and form bonds with lower energy.
"What about carbon as the atomic Post-It Note?" I asked. This went over well as a solution, and we moved on.
Several minutes later, Jeremy steered the conversation back to the Post-It Notes. "Wait... Post-It Notes aren't that strong. They're more like the hydrogen bonds that hold DNA together. Carbon's bonds are strong -- but not so strong that they won't break. Sort of like Velcro." And that was it. Carbon became atomic Velcro
So, that's where controlling metaphors come from, it turns out: Jeremy.
Eric
Congrats on the book launch! Must feel great. What an accomplishment.
I wanted to let you know of a project I'm working on. The firm I'm with is promoting an online event for a large marketing company called LoweWorldwide. One of their clients is running a contest on Facebook called LifeChangingBox.
Here's the site for it:
http://www.lifechangingbox.com/
You'll have to download the application on Facebook at:
http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?topic=5064&post=16064&uid=14649594242#/apps/application.php?id=14649594242
There's also a Fan page:
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=833090724#/group.php?gid=20280591719
There's three weeks and a ton of prizes left. If you invite a friend to play and they win, you win the same prize! Prizes like a new home theater system, a trip to NYC to see the Yankees play.
One guy, Markus Baskerville of Sacramento, already won himself a home theater system.
Let your friends on Facebook know. Maybe they - and you - will win!
Reply to this