The Seer's Tower

Rizzardi, Quentin

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/114278 Copy

Description

Title

The Seer's Tower

Author(s)

Rizzardi, Quentin

Issue Date

2022

Keyword(s)

• Materials Science
• Engineering

Abstract

My favorite part of research is the opportunity I have to play with the scale of things by working at very small sizes. The large crater you see in that picture is about a hundred microns wide, barely the diameter of a human hair; the deeper central hole, ten microns, could just about fit a red blood cell; the column at the very center, one micron, could skewer a cell nucleus. And yet the image conveys vastness, a seer's tower at the end of the world, watching upon an entire land. To the minuscule augur living in that micron-sized tower, this is a massive expanse, this is far as the universe goes. Barely a human hair. These days, every time my research, the news or my life feel too big, too all-consuming, I'm reminded of the seer's tower--and I remember that the size of things is also a question of perspective.

Type of Resource

• Text
• Image

Language

eng

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/114278

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2022 Quentin Rizzardi

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