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To See a World in a Grain of Sand – Nature’s Depths

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Two centuries ago, the poet William Blake wrote four of the most often quoted lines in English literature. The opening of his Auguries of Innocence, it is a passage that echoes my own experience. To see a World in a Grain of Sand, And a Heaven in a Wild Flower, Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand And Eternity in an Hour… To see a world in a grain of sand—to peer so deeply into the nature of any one thing that the riches of the Universe begin to be revealed—that to me is the essence of science as a quest. Not as a profession or a career, not as a niche in complex modern society, but as a quest for understanding one’s deepest nature. A quest is something deeply personal. You never know where it will lead, or whether that will be a reassuring or a threatening place. No matter, however. After all, you undertake a quest because the rewards of the process itself are so great. Speaking for myself, I have found that the more I have focused on the questing nature of my scientific work, the g

To See a World in a Grain of Sand By John Palka — Posted November 15, 2015 Two centuries ago, the poet William Blake wrote four of the most often quoted lines in English literature. The opening of his Auguries of Innocence , it is a passage that echoes my own experience. To see a World in a Grain of Sand, And a Heaven in a Wild Flower, Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand And Eternity in an Hour… To see a world in a grain of sand—to peer so deeply into the nature of any one thing that the riches of the Universe begin to be revealed—that to me is the essence of science as a quest. Not as a pr

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