Quark
Alce
James Joyce's "Finnegan's Wake". I would appreciate to find out that line.
Anybody can help me?
Thanks and ciao!
hran...@netonecom.net
"Three quarks for Muster Mark" is from Finnegans Wake (page 383 in my
edition). This is often cited as the origin of the scientific term for
certain sub-atomic particles, but the attribution has also been
disputed.
--
Ben Trovato
ruc...@alumni.umich.edu
444652N853431W
David Heath
in the Wake should be pronounced with an Irish accent. The word "quark" is
actually the Irish imitation of a duck, i.e., the equivalent of American
English "quack" -- and a much better imitation at that. This is verified by
the fact that the rest of the opening passage of this chapter (the line in
question being the very first line) is replete with bird references.
David Heath
Portland, OR
Andrew Russ
he (or someone) found the term in _Finnegans Wake_. Richard Feynman wanted
to call them "partons", but the term "quark" stuck.
andrew
David Harris
everybody....
Murray Gell-Mann, Nobel Prize winning physicist named the quark before he
discovered the word in Finnegans Wake. He tells the story in his book "The
Quark and the Jaguar". Here is an extract...
In 1963, when I assigned the name "quark" to the fundamental constituents of
the nucleon, I had the sound first, without the spelling, which could have
been "kwork". Then, in one of my occasional perusals of Finnegans Wake, by
James Joyce, I came across the word "quark" in the phrase "Three quarks for
Muster Mark". Since "quark" (meaning, for one thing, the cry of the gull)
was clearly intended to rhyme with "Mark," as well as "bark" and other such
words, I had to find an excuse to pronounce it as "kwork". But the book
represents the dream of a publican named Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker. Words
in the text are typically drawn from several sources at once, like the
"portmanteau" words in "Through the Looking Glass". From time to time,
phrases occur in the book that are partially determined by calls for drinks
at the bar. I argued, therefore, that perhaps one of the multiple sources of
the cry "Three quarks for Muster Mark" might be "Three quarts for Mister
Mark," in which case the pronunciation "kwork" would not be totally
unjustified. In any case, the number three fitted perfectly the way quarks
occur in nature.
I hope this helps! Not many people realise that Gell-Mann had the conception
of the word first but then adopted the spelling from the Wake.
David Harris
sciartica communications - at the boundaries of science and art
scia...@bigpond.com
David Heath
David Harris wrote
> I hope this helps! Not many people realise that Gell-Mann had the
conception
> of the word first but then adopted the spelling from the Wake.
>
So he says. But since he also admits to occasionally perusing FW, it is just
as plausible to suppose that at some point he read and absorbed the passage
in question (an extremely prominent and well-known passage, standing as it
does at the very opening of an important [well, is there any other kind?]
chapter), and later recalled the word, believing it to be original with
himself, failing to remember that he had read it before. A not uncommon
psychological phenomenon.
David Heath
Portland, OR
David Harris
as he originally had a different pronunciation and spelling in mind, I am
prepared to accept that he took the spelling from the Wake after coming up
with a similar word in his mind. I guess it is up to individual
interpretation as to whether that constitutes taking the word from the Wake
or if his invented word happens to coincide with Joyce's.
Either way, I think it is an enjoyable circumstance!
David Harris
"David Heath" <drh...@worldnet.att.net> wrote in message
news:9E3R4.52528$WF.28...@bgtnsc04-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...
Marilyn Welch
and can we _own_ ideas when we don't really know
where ideas originate.
It's worth thinking about now that there is so much litigation
over "ownership" of words. Example, Virgin Records is suing
a small second-hand record store for using "Almost Virgin"
as their name. Can Virgin Records own the word "virgin?"
Anyway, I hear a lot of seagulls here on the coast and they
don't go "quark" - ducks do though.
Marilyn
Dagny Scott
>a small second-hand record store for using "Almost Virgin"
>as their name. Can Virgin Records own the word "virgin?"
Well that record store is probably using the name as a direct reference to
Virgin Records. They can't say "we own the word Virgin", but they can with
reference to record companies
Dagny
"Pray, v.: To ask that the laws of the universe be annulled in behalf of a
single petitioner, confessedly unworthy." Ambrose Bierce
Dundee the Dark
> he (or someone) found the term in _Finnegans Wake_. Richard Feynman
wanted
> to call them "partons", but the term "quark" stuck.
This is true, but as for the line in Finnegan's Wake, it is:
"Three Quarks for Muster Mark..."
--
Hack a bit, sigh a bit, hack a bit more...
Dundee, killed by a decision.
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
Marilyn Welch
The name refers to used records,
second-hand but in good condition -
no longer pristine -
almost virgin (with a small 'v')
M.