撰文：DJ   編輯：DJ&ZSH

A. 諾獎得主霍夫曼   

1965年，美國有機化學家R．B．伍德沃德與R．霍夫曼合作提出分子軌道對稱守恒原理（伍德沃德-霍夫曼規(guī)則），并憑借這個杰出的工作和日本科學家福井謙一一同分享了1981年諾貝爾化學獎。其中的R. 霍夫曼不僅僅是一位杰出的化學家，他還在詩歌領(lǐng)域揮灑才華。

B. 詩人霍夫曼   

    R. 霍夫曼通曉六種語言，同時也愛好文學與詩歌創(chuàng)作。他在本科階段就表現(xiàn)出對文學尤其是詩的濃厚興趣，并選修了相關(guān)課程。不過直到1977年，霍夫曼在他四十歲的時候才開始發(fā)表作品（霍夫曼44歲獲得了諾貝爾化學獎）。為了進一步提高寫作水平，他還專門去麻省理工學院“補課”。這之后他陸續(xù)出版了一些詩集，這些詩歌作品中有很多與自然科學尤其是化學相關(guān)。

    當問及他為什么要開始寫詩的時候，霍夫曼說：“詩是一種不同于科學研究的自我表達方式，它更多的是一種主觀情緒。不過它也是一種跟其他人進行交流的工具。我有時會寫一些有關(guān)科學隱喻作品。其他詩人會對于科學家寫的詩歌也很感興趣。不過，我也會寫一些有關(guān)于童年記憶的詩歌。” 其創(chuàng)作靈感來源于生活的體驗，或者一些比較有深意的短語。不過，他說寫詩的時候往往需要修改很多遍，比平時科學論文的寫作修改的次數(shù)還要多。他覺得詩于他來說就像生活中的一份禮物。不過，一開始往往是靈感一觸即發(fā)，但是隨后我卻掙扎于詩的反復(fù)打磨和修改。

C. 詩人的詩  

怎樣用詩來書寫化學？且看這一首：

THEORETICAL CHEMISTRY

I would sit just there, in the quiet shadeof 

the live oaks. It was a scholar's dream, 

but I, intent to find the way across

 the ravine, wasn't there to write poetry.

 You see, that thick lush growth stopped progress

 here, but I could spot a road gathering

 on the other side. That's where we had to go.

 I brought my field glasses, a topographic

 map. From above, the gully looked much like

 a low-growing jungle hugging the land; 

the cows had gotten across, I saw tracks

 in and tried to follow them. But it didn't

 work, bushes closed in, there was poison oak,

 vines with rows of sharp red thorns. I came back

 day after day, trying, tracing paths back

 from the other side. For I knew a pattern,

 the right way, had to be there. In the end

 I found one, but what's bothered me since

 is that I didn't follow the paths that

 are hidden there, the way I should have, but

 I hacked a rough piece of a new one through.

 The other day I met a friend who's run

 into the same wild terrain. Starting out

 from a hill nearby, he found a differentway. 

But I told you there was only one.

參考文獻：

1.  化學詩歌總相宜——