felt quite comfortable with the idea. U re­ minded me of a discussion I had once had Light Refractions with a friend in college. While he was a believing, churchgoing Christian, he ridiculed the Mormon belief that the prophet Joseph Smith could have received Finneganls Quark a revelation from God here in modern America. It seemed to me that if God could choose to reveal divine truths to an­ cient prophets in far-off lands, then that same presumably eternal and all-powerful by Thomas H. Middleton characterized by the mathematical group God could certainly choose to reveal di­ SU (3). The simplest realization of this vine truths to you or me or anyone at all, at FEW WEEKS AGO, I men­ group involves transformation among three any time, in any place. Similarly, if one can tioned Quarrel: The Quar­ objects. Later, it appeared that this group accept that the entire universe was created A terly Report on the English might be too small. The next largest group, out of nothing at some remote time in the Language. That's the very, very spe­ SU (4), involved four quarks.... Adding a past, it takes no great leap of faith to accept cialized magazine published by Laurence fourth quark assumes a new kind of charge the idea that matter can be created out of Urdang. It's a compendium of citations of or 'quantum number.' Glashow and J. D. nothing at any time. (For a really clever, new words; it's for the benefit of the pub­ Bjorken of Stanford call it charm. If there only half-tongue-in-cheek explanation of lishers of dictionaries; and you can get a is a fourth quark then inevitably there will how something can come out of nothing subscription for $12,000 a year, which aver­ be new types of particles made up of the and disappear into nothing again and again, ages out to $3,000 an issue. Larry Urdang usual quarks and one, or more, of the new see Asimov's essay, "I'm Looking Over a sent me a copy of Volume One; and any­ ones. These new particles are called Four-Leaf Clover," in Science, Numbers time 1 get something worth $3,000 in the charmed. and I.) The steady-state universe, with con­ mail, it's worth mentioning at least twice. If that hasn't shattered your compla­ tinuous creation as its hallmark, provided Volume One mentions bottom quarks, cency, get this: Quarrel cites an article the maximum security and stability that top quarks, and charmed quarks. In case from The New York Times of August 5, one could hope for, given an expanding uni­ you don't know what a quark is, the Ran­ 1977, telling us that we may well be dealing verse to start with: As galaxies continued dom House Dictionary says it's "any one with six quarks: to disappear beyond the detectable hori­ of three types of elementary parficles that zon, new matter kept being created to re­ "An ephemeral particle ten times heavier are believed by some physicists to form the than the proton and neutron of the atomic place them; thus the universe remained in a basis of all matter in the universe" and steady state. nucleus, heaviest of the stable particles, adds that the word quark was "applied by appears to have been discovered, suggest­ A!as, as new facts and observations kept W. Gell-Mann after a coinage in Finnegan's ing the existence of six rather than four aniving, the steady-state theory was seen Wake, by James Joyce." quarks as basic building blocks of matter. to be increasingly untenable, and today it is That was probably a good definition way "If confirmed, the finding could be the hard to find an astronomer who believes in back in 1966, when the Random House most important in high-energy physics it. I have not yet said my own final good­ Dictionary was first published, but Quarrel since the 1974 observation of particles sup­ bye to it emotionally, however. Who knows tells us that in the July-August 1976 issue of porting the theory that certain quarks carry what new data and interpretations time v/ill The Sciences, there is a piece, "New a special property known as 'charm.' bring? For that matter, 1 have always kept a Quarks and Charm," that posits a fourth "Subsequent experiments confirmed the small comer of my mind open to the pos- quark: "We know that the original quark existence of charmed quarks but also indi­ sibiiity that the universe may not be ex­ scheme involved three quarks and their cated that there might be two additional panding after all. What if some radically anti-quarks. When Gell-Mann made this quarks. They are now being referred to as original interpretation of the red shift v/ere proposal nearly fifteen years ago there the 'top' and 'bottom' quark or, following a suddenly to become viable? were fewer phenomena to contend with tradition of whimsical names, as 'truth' and Whatever the answers to the cosmologi- and it looked as if everything could be fitted 'beauty.' " cal questions turn out to be—and we may into an approximate symmetry scheme In view of the fact that I haven't the never know the answers with any sense of finality but only move toward closer ap­ proximations of the tiTJth—we are integral ;^^ parts of the star worlds that we inhabit. ^h^ijij^j^^y^i^j^^^i||jj|^|M7^ Evidence suggests that we are literally j[iiiiniiipTiriTiiiiTTiif made of the stuff manufactured and thrown off by stars. We are thus true star children. iiiiiiTillllliii And it is of course our minds that have created the whole starry universe—for it is only through our minds that we have had any access to it (so far). All this being the case, I think it is only human to care in a deep, personal way about the fate of a cos­ mos that is at the same time our parent and our child. ® 50 SR 2 4 78 PRODUCED 2005 BY UNZ.ORG ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED vaguest idea of what they're talking about, it may appear to be supreme arrogance on Classified CLASSIFIED ADVERTISEMENTS are accepted ENLIGHTENMENT, SELF - REALIZATION. my part to quibble about the pronunciation at the discretion of the publisher. Rates per contract How is it achieved? What is the importance of medita­ year (10-word minimum): 1 time $2.10 per word; 5 tion? New home-study course. Write for information: of quark. times $1.95 per word, per insertion; 12 times $1.85 per S.G.A., 113 Friar Way, R20, Campbell, Calif. 95008. When 1 first saw quark, 1 pronounced it word, per insertion; 24 times $1.75 per word, per in­ sertion. No charge for zip codes. In addition to word RECORDERS—FINEST MAKES. Largest music as though it were like quart, but ending count, include $2.00 for domestic SR box numbers, selections. Free catalogue. RECORDER CENTER. with a k instead of a /. Random House and $5.00 for overseas SR box numbers. Copy deadlines, Amenia, N.Y. 12501. 7th Wednesday preceding issue date. Full payment Webster's New World dictionaries sanction WE ARE RECALLING for adjustment our mag­ must accompany your order. Address: Classified De­ netic chess set (series 14B) because of unfortunate the pronunciation, "quork." My other dic­ partment, Saturday Review Magazine, 1290 AVE. OF computer error which has over-magnetized sets mak­ THE AMERICAS, New York, N.Y. 10019. Replies to ing the pieces immovable except with pneumatic ham­ tionaries are too old to mention the word at SR box numbers should be sent to the above address. mer, (Marvelous Magnetic Chess Sets. New Canaan, all. Conn.) PERSONALS 1 was intrigued by the fact that W. Gell- BERTRAND RUSSELL SOCIETY. New. Infor­ Mann, obviously not only a high-energy HARRIS TWEED, SCOTTISH TWEED, WOR­ mation: SR7, RD 1, Box 409, Coopersburg, Pa. STED SUITING, tailored to measure. Workman­ 18036. physicist but a James Joyce buff, had ship guaranteed, $1.00 for swatches — ALEXANDER GRAHAM, BORVE, LEWIS, MISEMPLOYED? Start a successful used-book picked quark out of Finnegan's Wake. It SCOTLAND, PA86 ORX. store! Details, SR Box 1009. wasn't easy, but I found it. There, on page MEXICO—DEVALUATION BARGAIN. Ranch SEND YOUR LOVE OVERSEAS! You can be­ 383 of my Viking Compass edition, it says, hotel in private valley, sunshine, swimming, massage, come a Foster Parent to a little boy or girl for $19 a "Three quarks for Muster Mark! / Sure he rest. Room and meals: $13.00. Brochure from Apdo. month—and leam the child's name, receive a photo­ 1-I187S, Guadalajara, Mexico. graph, a detailed case history, and exchange letters. hasn't got much of a bark," and so on, pil­ For information write: Foster Parents Plan, I58-D LEARN 10 LANGUAGES A YEAR while striding Plan Way, Warwick, R.I. 02S87 or ca!l toll free ing lark, dark, park, Noah's ark, and spark for exercise. 200 Language Club, Box 1727, Beverly (800) 327-8912. on top of the three quarks for Muster Hills, Calif. 90213.' THE SOCIETY FOR BOYCOTTING PROD­ Mark. HANDWRITING ANALYSIS by M. N. Bunker. UCTS obnoxiously advertised, a nationwide, non­ Famous textbook. Hardbound, 256 pages. Only $1.98, profit, all-volunteer society organized to combat loud, Naturally, 1 figured that Random postpaid. Nelson Company, 325 Jackson, Chicago vulgar, unesthetic, indelicate, disgusting, por­ House, Webster's New World, and I were 60606. nographic, discriminatory, and/or potentially harmful television commercials, needs funds for supplies and all wrong in our pronunciation.