The Lambda Factor

Old Wives Tales Series : II

 

 

 

 

The clanging of the wheels on the rails refreshed Bill after a long day at work. It would take him twenty-five minutes to reach his station. There were just a few passengers in his cabin. A young couple were making out on one of the seats. His mind turned to the science term lambda.

 

Originally a Greek alphabet, it has come to denote many different things today. Included in the list is the way the gays were engaging the term in some way.

 

Its phonetical expression of lamb and da provided many clues to its popularity today. The term da commonly refers to daddy, however in the African languages it also refers to being free. The meaning of the word, in this case is clear.... its the father of the lamb or it may mean a lamb who is free.

 

In science, the term may represent the idea of measure, the way a measure brings something quite unquantifiable into a greater focus in the perceptions. There's another term in physics, quite the opposite of lambda. That word is infinity. No doubt it has been a curiousity among scientists to apply the principle of lambda to the experience of infinity.

 

It explained to him why his department head was getting a lot of pressure recently. The scientists in the research department were turning up empty. Staff morale was slowing down. One of his colleagues offered a theory to him at lunch that science was at the crossroads. That a scientist's perception was getting embroiled in their objective view of science.... for the study of science at some levels clearly indicates the subtle complexity of nature, the way it colludes with man's creative impulses.

 

' It's creating a mental block with the researchers,' he had complained.

 

At the station he picked up a good cigar at the newspaper stand. He lit it and took a long draw. Meg wouldn't allow him to smoke cigars at home.