"Can you find the chaos theory that makes poets out of people,
Can you find the simple sequence that commands us to explore?
Can you find the cold equation that builds castles, raises steeples,
Leaves our heads filled full of numbers while our minds cry out for more?
-- from "The
Moon Alone", by Seanan McGuire (posted 2008-12-20)
And on the subject of being driven to explore
and to create large things (for the quoted verse, at least) ... a
moment to honor the memory of a
few who died in such pursuits:
1967-01-27 Apollo I fire kills
Grissom, White and Chaffe
1986-01-28 Space Shuttle
Challenger explosion kills Scobee, Smith, McNair, Resnick,
Jarvis, Onizuka and McAuliffe
2003-02-01 Space Shuttle
Columbia burns up on reentry, killing Brown, Husband, Clark,
Chawla, Anderson, McCool, and Ramon.
At a ceremony yesterday, President Obama said, "The loss of these pioneers is felt every day by their family, friends, and colleagues, but we take comfort in the knowledge that their spirit will continue to inspire us to new heights."