Lyrics for 2007 APS March Meeting Sing-along /
Listen-along,
Hosted by Walter F. Smith, Haverford College
Fusion Girl by Bill Higgins
Copyright 1989 by William
S. Higgins
Tune: Da Doo Ron Ron, by
the Crystals
I was working in the
Fusion Lab= late one night
Da deuteron, ron, ron, da deuteron ron
But I couldn't get my
magnetic bottle to light
Da deuteron, ron, ron, da deuteron ron
Yeah, it was late at
night
Yeah, it wouldn't light
Yeah, I thought, “No
fusion for me!”
Da deuteron, ron, ron, da deuteron ron
[Instrumental interlude]
Then I met a chemist who
was kinda pretty
Da deuteron, ron, ron, da deuteron ron
She told me that she came
from Salt Lake City
Da deuteron, ron, ron, da deuteron ron
Yeah, she was kinda
pretty
Yeah, she came from Salt
Lake City
Yeah, she was a Fusion
Girl
Da deuteron, ron, ron, da deuteron ron
Da deuteron, ron, ron, da deuteron, ron,
Da deuteron, ron, ron, da deuteron, ron,
Da deuteron, ron, ron, da deuteron, ron,
Da deuteron, ron, ron, da deuteron, ron.
She said, "You're
wasting your time, and you're bound to lose"
Da deuteron, ron, ron, da deuteron ron
"Let me introduce you
to a new way to fuse"
Da deuteron, ron, ron, da deuteron ron
Yeah, you're bound to
lose
Yeah, a new way to fuse
Yeah, she was a Fusion
Girl
Da deuteron, ron, ron, da deuteron ron
[Instrumental interlude]
What Fermi did under a
stadium
Da deuteron, ron, ron, da deuteron ron
She did with heavy water
and palladium
Da deuteron, ron, ron, da deuteron ron
Yeah, he had a
stadium
Yeah, she had palladium
Yeah, she was a Fusion
Girl
Da deuteron, ron, ron, da deuteron ron
Da deuteron, ron, ron, da deuteron, ron,
Da deuteron, ron, ron, da deuteron, ron,
Da deuteron, ron, ron, da deuteron, ron,
Da deuteron, ron, ron, da deuteron, ron.
We made it together and it was so sweet
Da deuteron, ron, ron, da deuteron ron
Just a few neutrons and a
whole lotta heat
Da deuteron, ron, ron, da deuteron ron
Yeah, it was so sweet
Yeah, a lotta heat
Yeah, she was a Fusion
Girl
Da deuteron, ron, ron, da deuteron ron
Da deuteron, ron, ron, da deuteron, ron,
Da deuteron, ron, ron, da deuteron, ron,
Da deuteron, ron, ron, da deuteron, ron,
Da deuteron, ron, ron, da deuteron, ron.
Leaving On a Plane Wave
Words by Vann Joines &
Marian McKenzie, 3-4-06
Tune: Leavin’ on a Jet
Plane, by John Denver
The apparatus is set, I’m
ready to go.
A single slit though which
I’ll flow
I must diffract, so
here’s good bye to you --
For my lambda is set, the
wavelength to fly
And the width is measured
in units S.I.
You’ll find theta-min when you divide the two --
[Chorus:] So switch on and
power me
Tell me that you’ll
measure me
And I’ll amaze you every
time I go
Cause I’m leavin’ on a
Plane wave
You’ll see me on your
photo plate
I’m light, I have to glow.
Pause a bit before you
send me,
Praising those who
comprehend me --
Raise a toast to Huygens
and to Young!
My photons vibrate with
desire,
My passion sends my omega
higher,
I’d pant and gasp, if I
just had a lung!
[Chorus:] So switch on and power me
Tell me that you’ll
measure me
And I’ll amaze you every
time I go
Cause I’m leavin’ on a
Plane wave
You’ll see me on your
photo plate
I’m light, I have to glow.
[Instrumental interlude]
Now it’s time to calculate
me,
Measure me, and titillate
me.
Don’t drop the ruler –
that would kill the mood!
Dream about
intensity,
My glorious wave’s immensity
Proportional to square of
amplitude
Final chorus with
repeated motif:
So switch on and power
me
Tell me that you’ll
measure me
And I’ll amaze you every
time I go
Cause I’m leavin’ on a
Plane wave
Well, not exactly
lit’rally
Sort of like a Plane wave
Near the axis of
symmetry.
I’m light, I have to glow.
The Physical Constants
Song
Words by Walter F. Smith,
4-23-05
Tune:
Supercalifragilisticexpealidocious
(underlining indicates
emphasis)
3.14159 is memorized with
ease,
But when it comes
to “e”, there are two possibilities:
It might be 2.71828183,
Or 1.602 by minus
nineteen, don’t you see!
They say Bohr was a giant,
but I can’t agree with them
His radius is only oh
point oh five three nm!
That describes the orbital
of hydrogen 1s --
It’s around ten thousand times
the size of the nucleus!
Um diddle diddle diddle um
diddle aye
Um diddle diddle diddle um
diddle aye
The perme-ability
of free space is quite strange --
4 pi by minus
seven, but at least it doesn’t change!
Mu-naught has a partner
known as epsilon-sub-naught:
8 point eight five
by minus 12 – we use it quite a lot!
Um diddle diddle diddle um
diddle aye
(Up a step) Um diddle diddle diddle um diddle aye
Boltzmann said, “I think
I’ll name this constant after me:
1.38054 by minus 23 !”
But when it comes to
quantum,
it was Planck who
knew the score—
1.054 times ten to minus
34 !
Avogadro’s number, well it
takes a while to count—
6.022 by 23, a large
amount.
NA times k-sub-B
gives you the “R” in “nRT”,
And 96.5 kJ’s per mole is
one eV!
m-sub-e’s 9 point
one one by minus 31.
One point six six
by minus twenty-seven’s a proton.
The mass of earth is big
at 6.0 by 24,
But solar mass is 2 times
10 to 30, that’s lots more!
A parsec measured in
light years is 3.262.
A hundred fifty billion
meters equals one AU.
From earth to moon is three
hundred eighty-four thousand klicks!
And R-sub-E in meters: 6.4
by 10 to 6 !
Um diddle diddle diddle um
diddle aye
(Up a step) Um diddle diddle diddle um diddle aye
(This verse done with outrageous French
accent)
The units we have used are
“Système Internationale”,
But if your French is rusty,
they’re called “MKS” as well.
So if you like the
statcoulomb, the pound, or inch, or ell,
Then take your nasty units
and do measurements in hell!
Um diddle diddle diddle um
diddle aye
(Up a half step) Um diddle diddle diddle um diddle aye
If we’ve ignored your
favorites, why we’ll try to make it right –
2.9979 by 8’s the speed of
light.
Big G is six point six
seven by ten minus eleven,
And alpha’s one divided by
a hundred thirty-seven!
And alpha’s one divided by
a hundred thirty-seven!
Over the Rainbow
Words by John Roeder, Judy Doyle, and Friends
tune: "Over the Rainbow" (music by Harold Arlen)
Somewhere, over the
rainbow, cosmic rays
Fields magnetic protect us from their disturbing ways.
Somewhere, over the
rainbow, there is light
That's refract- and reflected, truly an awesome sight
The purple strip is on the
bottom
And the blue and green stripe right above it
Then yellow, just like lemon drops,
And orange and red upon the top
That's how we love it!
Somewhere, over the
rainbow, there's UV
Until ozone absorbs it, but only B and C.
Rigid Body Sings
Words by James Clerk
Maxwell
Tune: Comin’ Through the
Rye
(traditional Scottish tune)
If a body meet a body
flyin' through the air.
If a body hit a body, will it fly? And where?
Every impact has its measure,
Ne'er a one have I,
Yet all the lads they measure me,
Or, at least, they try.
If a body meet a body,
altogether free,
How they travel afterwards, we do not always see.
Every problem has its method,
By analytics high;
For me, I know not one o' them,
But what the worse am I?
The Cyclotronist’s
Nightmare
By Prof. Arthur Roberts
(APS Fellow), 1947
1. Once upon a midnight
dreary
The cyclotron crew was weak and weary;
In walked the Boss with a smile so cheery,
In walked the Boss with a very broad smile.
"Boys," he said "Here's a wonderful chance"
"Boys," he said, "It'll make you want to dance"
"Boys," he said, "We must activate some iron,
Eighty millicuries by half-past nine! "
“Eighty
millicuries by half-past nine!”
Round & round &
round go the deuterons, Round & round
&
Round & round the magnet swings it, Round
& round &
Round & round & round go the deuterons Round
& round &
Smack! in the target goes the ion beam!
2.
"Boys," said the Boss, "For luck you have no peer,"
"Boys," said the Boss, "Get set to give a cheer,"
"Boys," said the Boss, "The President is coming here.
The President of the Reekanstinkle Fund
Giving all that money away is awfully tiring
The doctor said the President was ripe for retiring,
The doctor said he ought to take some activated iron,
Eighty millicuries twice a day!"
“Eighty millicuries twice
a day!”
Round & round & Round & round &
round go the deuterons,
Round & round & Round
& round the magnet swings it,
Round & round & Round
& round & round go the deuterons
Smack!
in the target go the microamps.
3.
"The President thought of us right away,
The President came to me the very same day
The President will honor us with a two-week stay
While we activate the iron for him in our beam.
The doctor said, 'Come back again two weeks from now,
The doctor said, 'Don't fret yourself; don't furrow your brow,
The doctor said, 'Just diet on the simplest kind of chow
And take your activated iron with sugar and cream."'
Round & round &
round go the deuterons, Round & round
&
Round & round the magnet swings it, Round
& round &
Round & round & round go the deuterons Round
& round &
Smack! in the target go the milliamps!
4.
"But," said the First Stooge, "We couldn't possibly… "
"But," said the Second Stooge, "Nobody ain't never … "
"But," said the Third Stooge, "The beam current's only… "
The Boss just frowned reprovingly.
"But," said the Fourth Stooge, "The internal radiation… "
"But," said the Fifth Stooge, "The isotope abundance… "
"But," said all the Stooges, "Dammitall, not even Berkeley…
"
"Now, now," said the Boss, "Do it just for me."
Round & round & Round & round &
round go the deuterons,
Round & round & Round
& round the magnet swings it,
Round & round & Round
& round & round go the deuterons
[Spoken] Look at those neutrons pouring out there!
5. The Boss said this, and
smiling brightly,
Threw a kiss to each, politely,
Tripped to the door so carefree and lightly-
"Toodle-oo boys, we'll be here at nine!"
The First Stooge said, "It's our undoing."
Number Five began boohooing-
Three said only, "Let's get going-
Eighty millicuries by half-past nine!"
“Eighty
millicuries by half-past nine!”
Round & round &
round go the deuterons, Round & round
&
Round & round the magnet swings it, Round
& round &
Round & round & round go the deuterons Round
& round &
[Spoken] When we get our
new chamber in, we'll have two milliamperes outside!
6.
Rectifier, fore pump, diffusion pump, oscillator,
Magnet, filament, arc source generator,
Deflecting voltage, beam current integrator,
Eighty millicuries by half-past nine!
At three thousand kilowatts the oscillator wasn't stable;
At two thousand amperes the magnet fused its cable;
And at one o'clock the crew collapsed beneath the table
Eighty millicuries by half past nine!
“Eighty millicuries by
half-past nine!”
Round & round & Round & round &
round go the deuterons,
Round & round & Round
& round the magnet swings it,
Round & round & Round
& round & round go the deuterons
Bang, bang, bang, bang go the nuclei !!
7.
The bell tolled out the hour of nine;
The Stooges' eyes were wet with brine;
The Fifth made vague remarks on dyin'-
Eighty millicuries of iron --haw!
But like the inexorable tides of Fate,
Promptly on their fatal date
The Boss and the President, never late
Came whiffling through the door.
Round & round &
round go the deuterons, Round & round
&
Round & round the magnet swings it, Round
& round &
Round & round & round go the deuterons Round
& round &
[Spoken]
Phosphorus? just help yourself
from the cookie jar there!
8. "Good morning,
Boys!" the Boss cried loudly,
"Isn't she a beaut?" the Boss said loudly!
"Nearly eighteen million volts!" the Boss beamed proudly --
"Hm! hm!“, The Stooges suppressed a
nasty cough.
"Well, Boys -- well, boys--well!" said the Boss;
"Come now--come on now--come across!
You must have enough activity to choke a hoss,
But eighty millicuries will be quite enough."
“Eighty millicuries will be quite enough!”
Round & round & Round & round &
round go the deuterons,
Round & round & Round
& round the magnet swings it,
Round & round & Round
& round & round go the deuterons
[Spoken] We don't bombard
sodium – we just walk through the room with it!
9.
The Fifth Stooge had an inspiration
Born in deepest desperation.
"Mr. President!" he cried, amid a great sensation,
(A Stooge may only look at a President.)
"If I am ruined beyond description
Let me see my doom's inscription
Show me, please, that damned prescription
For eighty millicuries twice a day!"
“Eighty millicuries twice
a day!”
Round & round &
round go the deuterons, Round & round
&
Round & round the magnet swings it, Round
& round &
Round & round & round go the deuterons Round
& round &
[Spoken] Well, you see,
just now the external beam is only two microamps.
10.
The President fumbled in his inside pocket-
The Fifth Stooge felt like a felon in the docket-
The President found a tiny locket,
Opened it, gave the paper away
To the wretched Stooge, almost expiring,
Who read the words of hope inspiring,
"Solution acetate of iron:
Eighty milligrams twice a day."
Round & round & Round & round &
round go the deuterons,
Round & round & Round
& round the magnet swings it,
Round & round & Round
& round & round go the deuterons
[Spoken] Well, it isn't
running just now, but we'll have it together again in about a week!
Well, maybe two weeks!
11.
"So that's what the word was," the President said.
"I thought it was 'activated' iron, instead,"
"It didn't seem quite correct," he said,
"Eighty millicuries twice a day--"
The Boss and the President tripped away;
"Toodle-oo, boys, see you again, someday,"
And the cyclotron crew settled back to play-ha! ha!
And the ions go round twenty-four hours each day.
Round & round &
round go the deuterons, Round & round
&
Round & round the magnet swings it, Round
& round &
Round & round & round go the deuterons Round
& round &
[Spoken] Aww, let’s just
turn the damn thing off, and go to bed!
The Ether Song Words by
Walter Smith 3-22-01
Tune: Nancy Whiskey
(traditional)
1. My name is Michelson,
Albert Michelson.
Long ago I was full of
pride --
I thought I knew just what
I wanted --
Thought I could find it
and more beside.
Refrain:
Ether, ether, luminiferous
ether,
Ether, ether, where’d you
go?
2. I found a partner, a
physics partner.
Edward Morley was his
name.
We set out to measure the
ether.
We set out to find our
fame.
Refrain:
Ether, ether, luminiferous
ether,
Ether, ether, where’d you
go?
4. So gather ye students,
ye physics students,
Now that you’ve heard my
tale of how
I spent a lifetime
searching for the ether--
I couldn’t find it, it’s
your turn now.
Refrain:
Ether, ether, luminiferous
ether,
Ether, ether, where’d you
go?
[Repeat:]
Ether, ether, luminiferous
ether,
Ether, ether, where’d you
go?
Carbon is A Girl’s Best
Friend
Words by Lynda Williams, ©
1998 (The Physics Chanteuse)
Tune: "Diamond’s are
a Girl’s Best Friend "
Music by Jule Styne, original lyrics by Leo Robin (1949)
A lithium dose just might
cure your depression,
But carbon is a girl’s
best friend.
And gold may be grand but
it won’t start a fire
In your barbeque,
Or put the toot in your
choo-choo!
Life on Earth is carbon
based.
It came here on rocks from
outer space!
And formed organic
compounds
Till the carbon-cycle went
round and round!
Carbon is a girl’s best
friend!
Well, there may come a
time when you need to do some squeezing –
Carbon is the world’s
hardest friend!
And there may come a time
when a substrate is needed
To deposit your film on --
Just sputter it on a hard
diamond.
If you have some lubing to
do
Then graphite is the
allotrope for you, you, you, you!
Or if you’re into Ages,
Then carbon-14 can date
it!
Carbon is a girl’s best
friend!
[Extra bar of interlude.]
Well, I’ve heard of
attempts to make hard carbon nitride
But diamonds always win in
the end!
I’ve heard that we need to
find something much cleaner
To put into our cars,
Or else we won’t get very
far,
Cuz time rolls on and
supplies will be gone
Of diamonds, coal and
petroleum.
But nanotechnology
Can build anything with
fullerenes----!
Carbon --- Car=bon ---,
I don’t mean hydrogen, but
Carbon--- is a girl’s
best---- friend, Best friend!
Physics Theoretical Words by
John A. Barrett
Tune: The Major General’s Song, from “Pirates of
Penzance”
Music by Sir Arthur Sullivan
[Lengthy instrumental
intro]
I've studied all the
sciences in order alphabetical,
My judgment is, which some of you may find to be heretical,
The field that's really quite abstruse,
The field where all the screws come loose,
The field that's famous for its spoofs, is physics theoretical.
I've taken undergraduate
work whose content is forgettable;
And graduate work is gen'rally regarded as regrettable.
The lecturers are all absurd.
A cogent word is never heard.
[Pause]
Insanity afflicts a third
in physics theoretical.
We never do experiments;
we shun the purely practical.
Our best work's done in getting grants--our budgets are fantastical.
In one respect our motive's pure:
Though funding fails, we still endure--
We make damn sure our job's secure in physics theoretical.
Our scientific
breakthroughs are, to say the least, debatable.
We laugh at critics haughtily; our egos are inflatable.
The rest of science goes along,
Because our last defense is strong:
It's hard to prove we're ever wrong in physics theoretical.
[Instrumental conclusion]
A Liter and a Gram Words by Tom Lehrer © 1951
Tune: "A Bushel and a Peck” from Guys
and Dolls,
by Frank Loesser (1950)
1. I love you, a liter and
a gram
A liter and a gram, and
it's crazy that I am,
A meter and a yard, and a
Newton and a Watt,
A Newton and a Watt, and I
wanna know a lot about you, about you.
A meter and a liter,
Nothin' could be sweeter
'Cause I love you, a liter
and a gram
It's crazy that I am for
you.
2. I love you, a poundal
and a dyne
A poundal and a dyne, and
I wanna make you mine;
A foot-pound and an erg
and a Joule and a cal'rie,
A Joule and a cal'rie, and
I wanna spend my sal'ry on you, on you.
Centigrades and
Fahrenheits, You lift me up to darin'
heights
'Cause I love you, a
poundal and a dyne
And I wanna make you mine,
I do.
(Repeat verse 2)
Victor the Vector Words by
Walter Smith 2-07
Tune: Rosin the Bow
(traditional)
Oh, Victor the Vector was
pining,
As he sat in his room all
alone,
For passionate vector
combining,
When Vicky called him on
the phone.
She said, “I am feeling
deje=ction!
Come over and see me
tonight!
I know you’ve both length
and direction –
Let’s add tip-to-tail by
moonlight!
Let’s add tip-to-tail by
moonlight==, let’s add tip-to-tail by moonlight.
I know you’ve both length
and direction – Let’s add tip-to-tail by moonlight!”
So Victor and Vicky, they
tried out
All the ways that two
vectors combine,
For after addition she
cried out,
“Let’s go for the truly
sublime!
Let’s try vector
multiplica=tion –
Two vectors can create
a third,
And the recipe for
procreation
Is AB sin theta, I’ve heard.
Is AB sin theta, I’ve
heard==, is AB sin theta, I’ve heard,
And the recipe for
procreation is AB sin theta, I’ve heard.”
So they lit mathematical
fires,
Lying head-to-head and
tail to tail,
But despite their most
ardent desires,
They produced just a
frustrated wail!
For, as they found by
error and try=ing,
And we know so ve=ry well,
Cross products are more
satisfying
When vectors aren’t
pa=rallel!,
When vectors aren’t
pa=rallel==, when vectors aren’t pa=rallel,
Cross products are more
satisfying when vectors aren’t pa=rallel!
The Insignificance Song, by Eric Idle
Just remember that you're
standing on a planet that's evolving,
And revolving at 900 miles
an hour,
That's orbiting at 19
miles a second, so it's reckoned,
A sun that is the source
of all our power!
The sun and you and me and
all the stars that we can see
Are moving at a million
miles a day
In the outer spiral arm,
at 40,000 miles an hour
Of a galaxy we call the
Milky Way!
Our galaxy itself contains
a hundred billion stars.
It's a hundred thousand
light-years side to side.
It bulges in the middle
16,000 light-years thick,
But out by us it's just
3,000 light-years wide.
We're 30,000 light-years
from galactic central point,
We go 'round every 200
million years.
And out galaxy is only one
of millions of billions
In this amazing and
expanding universe!
The universe itself keeps
on expanding and expanding
In all of the directions
it can whiz.
As fast as it can go, the
speed of light you know,
12 million miles a minute
and that's the fastest speed there is.
So remember when you're
feeling very small and insecure
How amazingly unlikely is
your birth
And pray that there's
intelligent life somewhere up in space
'Cause there's bugger all
down here on Earth.
Make a Circuit With Me, by the Polecats
(1982)
A sweet romance is not for
me, I need electricity!
If you wanna make me flip, hit me with a
micro chip!
I'll be a diode, cathode,
electrode, Overload, generator, oscillator
Make a circuit with me!
Just plug in and go-go-go,
I'll be a human dynamo.
Signals in my power cord,
Impulse on my circuit board.
I'll be a diode, cathode,
electrode,
Overload, generator,
oscillator
Make a circuit with me!
[Bridge tune:]
I'm an AC/DC man, You can read my circuit diagram.
I feed on electric jolts, I need
fifty-thousand volts!
I'll be a diode, cathode,
electrode, Overload, generator, oscillator
Make a circuit with me!
A sweet romance is not for
me, I really need electricity!
If you wanna make me flip, Come on and
hit me with a micro chip!
I'll be a diode, cathode,
electrode, Overload, generator, oscillator
Make a circuit with me!
[Bridge tune:]
I'm an AC/DC man, You can read my circuit diagram.
I feed on electric jolts, I need
fifty-thousand volts!
I'll be a diode, cathode,
electrode,
Overload, generator,
oscillator
Make a circuit with
Diode, cathode, electrode,
Overload, generator,
oscillator
Make a circuit with
Diode, cathode, electrode,
Overload, generator,
oscillator
Make a circuit with me!!
The Tesla Song
Words by Marian McKenzie,
Spring ‘02
(Tune: “Heavenly
Sunshine”, by H. J. Zelley & G. H. Cook, 1899)
1. Nikola Tesla was an
inventor.
Out of Croatia, hither he
came,
Working for Westinghouse
Corporation,
Where he won international
fame!
[Chorus:]
Nikola Tesla! Nikola Tesla!
Let us now praise for what
he has done=!
Giving us alterna=ting
current –
It is the pow’r on which
our lives run!
2. Tesla saw AC was the
solution,
Letting the power
companies send
Current to customers who
were distant,
Lengths to which DC
couldn’t extend!
[Chorus:]
Nikola Tesla! Nikola Tesla!
Let us now praise for what
he has done=!
Giving us alterna=ting
current –
It is the pow’r on which
our lives run!
3. Born amid lightning, Tesla was destined
To give us roaring
dy=namos,
Electric motors, AC
transformers,
Remote control and
ra=dios!
[Chorus:]
Nikola Tesla! Nikola Tesla!
Let us now praise for what
he has done=!
Giving us alterna=ting
current –
It is the pow’r on which
our lives run!
One-electron Atom Words by
Prof. Anonymous
Tune: “Ring of Fire”, by
Johnny Cash
Last night, I had a dream
That life’s not what it
seems.
I dreamed, and I was
hurled
Into a Quantum World.
Chorus:
I was part of a
one-electron atom!
I was bound, bound, bound
To a hydrogenic system.
And I learned, learned,
learned
About the atom, about the
atom.
Spectra and theory meet
When ener-gies are
discrete.
Balmer series and Lyman
lines --
In Bohrs’ model they all
work fine.
Chorus:
I took part in a photon
emission.
I fell down, down, down
Through an orbital
transition.
And I learned, learned,
learned
About the atom, about the
atom.
To let my wavefunction
Quantize ang’lar momentum,
My quantum numbers were
n,l,m,
Plus s and m-sub-s
(they’re for spin).
Chorus:
I was part of a
one-electron atom!
I was bound, bound, bound
By a Coulomb attraction.
And I learned, learned,
learned
About the atom, about the
atom.
The Love Song of the
Electric Field
Lyrics by Walter
Smith Tune: Loch Lomond
Oh, you be the B field,
and I’ll be the E field,
Let’s dance through the
cosmos, my lover!
With the ether set aside,
you and I can freely glide,
Supported on the wings of
each other.
Before I met you, my skies
were never blue.
“My misery,” I said, “just enlarges.”
My head was always stuck
in that negative old muck,
And my feet were attached
to plus charges.
(Swing the rhythm)
But then you came along
with a different kind of song,
Though it’s true you were
trapped ‘round those currents.
But you had no start or
end, you said, “Come along, my friend!
We don’t need these
monopoles, you’ve my assurance.”
You took me by the hand,
and we jumped up off the land,
And at first I was afraid
it would pain me.
But I looked into your
eyes, and it made me realize
That your d by dt could
sustain me.
You said…
You be the E field, and
I’ll be the B field,
Let’s dance through the
cosmos, my lover!
We’ll leave earthly Q’s
behind, and our destiny we’ll find,
Supported on the wings of
each other.
N-A-N-O Nano!
Lyrics by Mark Rzchowski
& Friends, w/ help from M. McKenzie
Tune: Lola, by The Kinks
I saw it in a lab down at
MIT
Where the buildings got no
names,
they just give 'em numbers,
like 7
No letters, just 7.
I looked down at it, but
it was so hard to see
So I asked what it was,
and they said to me,
"It's nano. N-A-N-O, nano. Na na na na nano!“
(10 beat interlude)
Well I'm not blind but I
couldn't see
How anything that small
could make a diff'rence to me,
Something nano.
N-A-N-O, nano.
And I'm not dumb, but I
can't understand
How tapping mode can yield
a clearer scan
For something nano.
N-A-N-O, nano. Na na na na nano!
(10 beat interlude)
Well, I'd left school just
a week before
And I'd never ever worn a
labcoat before
But when I touched that
AFM
I knew I'd never be
innocent again!
Well I'm not the world's
most sciencey guy
But when I saw what it
could do, even I could see why
We all love nano.
Na na na na nano –
Physics chemistry and
biology
All mixed up together
with new things to see, yeah that's nano.
N-A-N-O, nano - na na na na nano -
Nano. Na na na na nano, na na na na nano!
Still Having Fun
Words by Marian McKenzie,
3-06
Tune: The Bells of St.
Mary’s
When I was a wee thing, my
Mama would say,
When you are a grown-up,
you’ll have bills to pay --
Choose well a profession
where greed is allowed --
Make ba=rrels of mo=ney
and then I’ll be proud!”
But sadly for mama, I
heard physics call!
Soon photons and sine
waves were my all in all.
Complex oscillations were
my heart’s delight,
And Jackson rested on
my pillow ev’ry night!
Now I’m a professor, and
life is a blast!
What other professors
smash melons in class?
What other professors
shoot things with a gun?
That’s why= I love
phy=sics – I’m still having fun!
[Repeat] That’s why= I
love phy=sics – I’m still having fun!
For more great physics songs, or to contribute your
own, please visit PhysicsSongs.org