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Friday, March 6, 2009

The Newton Letter

Dear Aunt Deb,
I met this man in a book store. He reminded me of Uncle Phil because of his long, wavy hair and because he loved to read. He bought so many books I had to give him a hand back to Trinity College where he works. He offered me tea as I sat and listened to him talk about light and gravity.
Before going home, he showed me some of his experiments. He held a crystal (which he called a prism) up to the sunlight. I saw beautiful reds, oranges, yellows, blues, violets, and indigos. He claims that white light is made up of these colors. Black is the absence of color.
At dusk I got to look through his reflecting telescope which is made with mirrors. I looked at stars in the sky.
Accidentally I dropped my tea cup and it shattered into a million pieces. I thought he’d be upset and I apologized, but he seemed excited. Newton said it was an example of gravity. He said gravity is a force that pulls an object to the ground. He just couldn’t explain why.
After that I went home. I saw flames in the distance and discovered my home was burnt to the ground. Newton has been kind enough to let me stay with him at Trinity College for a while, but I was wondering if I could live with you until I get my home rebuilt.
Your nephew,
Austin Burtt

3 comments:

bibliowarrior said...

This is a neat story. Did you write it for a special project or just for fun? I like the stuff about prisms and gravity.
Your buddy, Sally

Burtt Boy said...

I wrote it for a project for my science class which I don't care for very much.
your buddy~
Austin

Jackson Rose said...

Wow...I am still wondering how you associated Uncle Phil with long wavy hair ('cause I took a peek at Sir Isaac Newton's long wild mane on Wikipedia and it really is something else!)...Did you manage to peruse uncle's old High School yearbook from the early '70s?

Anyway, I enjoyed the story; it was a good idea to turn science into a story that you can enjoy telling and then understanding better.

You can stay here a while until your house is rebuilt, but you'll have to scrub the toilets and floors and certainly no smashing teacups to bits in this house!

I enjoyed talking with you on the phone the other night. You are quickly becoming a Civil War expert and a little scholar. Keep up the good work.