Flame far too hot: William Empson’s non-Euclidean predicament
نویسنده
چکیده
William Empson’s poem ‘Letter I’ (1928–35) appears to anticipate the black hole, using the idea of a dying star from which no light escapes as a metaphor for unrequited passion. Closer inspection of the Cambridge undergraduate context in which the poem was written, along with the other source materials incorporated besides Arthur Eddington in the poem, reveals the motivation behind Empson’s playful engagement with the limits of what was possible under general relativity. Empson’s attempt to follow the metaphysical example of John Donne, using the new cosmology of the 1920s, led him to explore an extreme astro-physical condition that Eddington had dismissed as absurd, and that still had an uncertain scientific status in the 1930s.
منابع مشابه
Hot Tub Lung: A Diagnostic Challenge
Hot tub lung (HTL) is a granulomatous lung disease thought to occur as a result of a hypersensitivity response to non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM). Typical radiographic findings are diffuse micronodular and/or ground glass opacities. We report an interesting case of HTL that presented with unique radiographic features, making its diagnosis a predicament. A 56-year-old immunocompetent female w...
متن کاملThermodynamics of an Ice Age: The Cause and Sequence of Glaciation.
The Fisher Burner produces an intensly hot flame for all types of laboratory heating operations including many ignitions and incinerations which otherwise would require the use of compressed air. Instead of the cold cone and hot tip characteristic of the Bunsen flame, the Fisher flame is short and wide and is uniformly hot throughout.
متن کاملRayleigh–Bénard instability generated by a diffusion flame
We investigate the Rayleigh–Bénard convection problem within the context of a diffusion flame formed in a horizontal channel where the fuel and oxidizer concentrations are prescribed at the porous walls. This problem seems to have received no attention in the literature. When formulated in the low-Mach-number approximation the model depends on two main non-dimensional parameters, the Rayleigh n...
متن کاملCyclic flame propagation in premixed combustion
In experiments of hot surface ignition and subsequent flame propagation, a puffing flame instability is observed in mixtures that are stagnant and premixed prior to ignition. By varying the size of the hot surface, power input, and combustion vessel volume, it was determined that the instability is a function of the interaction of the flame, with the fluid flow induced by the combustion product...
متن کاملIgnition of hydraulic fluid sprays by open flames and hot surfaces
A study of the ignition of non-fire-resistant hydraulic fluid sprays was conducted by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Both an open flame and a hot steel surface were used as the external heat sources. With the open flame as the heat source, the minimum oil temperature and minimum spray nozzle pressure that resulted in an ignition were measured. The effects of the dist...
متن کامل