Annotations, Ch 131
Igor Stravinsky (Игорь Фёдорович Стравинский) was a Russian composer, probably most famous for his works The Firebird and The Rite of Spring. He is, hands down, one of the most influential 20th century composers. The music for both Firebird and Rite are so intense that you can’t help but be effected emotionally. Rite of Spring is also famous for doing revolutionary things with dance, breaking the rules of classical ballet-the audience was famously appalled at the premier on account of both the music and the dance.
You can watch the man himself conduct the “Lullaby and Final Suite” from The Firebird on youtube here: youtube (dot) com/watch?v=5tGA6bpscj8
Giuseppe Verdi is one of the most famous opera composers. You’ve probably heard the music from his opera somewhere (e.g. “La donna è mobile” from Rigoletto). His operas are extremely dramatic, the music saturated with emotion. I highly recommend seeing one of his operas live, if you can.
Nederlands Dans Theater is a Dutch contemporary dance company. I’ve never seen them live, but the clips they put online are amazing. Truly some of the best dance out there-experimental, precise (watch the degree of control they have of their bodies), thought provoking.
Their website: ndt (dot) nl/
Mark Rothko was an American painter, most famous for his color field canvases and his suicide. I’ve said this before, but you really have to go stand in front of the painting to get the full effect of the color, the brush strokes, the amazing detail that can be found even in simple blocks of color. Photographs simply cannot do justice it at all.
If you want a slightly deeper overview of Rothko, the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC created a website. They have a huge Rothko collection, including his earlier works. The website is: nga (dot) gov/feature/rothko/
“Like chemical reagents seeking equilibrium, he and I respond to external pressures by Le Chatelier’s principle, constantly adjusting and compensating wherever necessary. At once a unit yet distinct in our components, Jim and I create another equation.”
This idea of creating another equation is extends on previous thoughts of how we go about defining things (see Ch 18 in particular). It’s natural to think of equality in the traditional mathematical sense, as an equation where the terms on the left hand side (LHS) must equal the terms on the right hand side (RHS) in order for it to be logically consistent. But here, Spock is looking beyond mathematics to another kind of equation.
Strictly speaking, chemical equations are also about LHS = RHS, since energy (and matter) has to be conserved. That’s what stoichiometry is about. But when we’re considering reactions, chemical equations have a flexibility to them, since factors such as temperature, pressure, volume, the presence of other reagents, catalysts, can change the “terms” of either side. LHS and RHS seek equilibrium, a balance, compensating for the different variables that affect the two sides of the equation. This process of finding equilibrium is dynamic and ongoing-it never stops. Atoms, molecules, and energy are constantly in flux, as long as the temperature isn’t absolute zero.
The point: Spock and Jim are in reaction. They are the left and right sides of the equation. The two sides are different in their ions, molecules, etc. However, Spock says that they are “at once a unit” because they are also the overarching system in which the reaction takes place. You don’t consider one side of the equation without thinking about the other-they are interdependent.
Granted, mathematics has many different “types” of equality. I could talk about isomorphisms, homeomorphisms, equivalence classes, bijections... they’re all interesting concepts, but not quite the same as this idea of chemical equilibrium.
That was an extremely simplified explanation of Le Chatelier’s principle. To those of you who deal with chemistry on a daily basis, apologies if I oversimplified. I haven’t looked at chemistry in a while.