In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be. What came to be 
through him was life,
and this life was the light of the human race; 
the light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness has not overcome it. John 1:1,3-5 “And by light you mean photons, right?” asks the student in the first row. “Yes, I do.” At least in this context. There is always a bit of irony in these last classes of the semester. I’m lecturing about light — about lasers and spectroscopy, photons and selection rules — as the winter darkness grows deeper. Or maybe it’s not such an unreasonable topic for these solstice-ing days. As I packed up to return to my office, the lines from the Prologue to St. John’s Gospel ran through my head, “the light shines in the darkness and the … Continue reading →