Spellbound by those magnificent molecules!

“What are you thinking about son?” said the shaman of the river, as he slid the fish back into the lined pouch in his fishing bag.

“Well, I was wondering how a creature like that could have come from a few atoms splashing around in a muddy pool. A big fat silvery shiny thing, with gills to breathe under water, scales to prevent the water from entering its body, a tail as an engine, and eyes that always stay open to be ready for anything. How can atoms make this happen?”

“Haha! So he knows about atoms, does he?!”

“Yes! I learned it in chemistry. Atoms. They have a dense nucleus, with protons and neutrons, surrounded by orbits of electrons. Reminds me of the Earth, our nucleus, with the planets flying around us. Atoms started everything. Yet we can’t see them, they are too small for the human eye.”

“I see….well, let me leave you with a thought, before I go up the hill, home. Maybe you should be thinking of it more in terms of molecules, they are what made all this possible. You have heard of them, yes?”

Molly-cools. A nice word. Yes I had heard of them, but I was still figuring out whether it meant like two atoms together, or could big complex combinations of atoms be thought of as molecules. I didn’t want to appear stupid by saying something nonsensical.

“Yes. I am still examining the idea of molecules, but I do know about covalent bonds and ionic bonds that join atoms together into molecules, and that often, different properties result.”

“Very good. Well, think about it some more, and next time, we will have a chat about the molecules. They are really the guilty party; they got us here, all the way from a few of them bubbling in an organic soup, to fishing on a river today. Now there’s a story no one would believe if you came up with it! Alright off I go, keep a closer eye on that float now. Best of luck, and remember.....keep the faith!”

A very interesting character indeed, I said to myself. He seemed to know science! As well as clearly being a professional fisherman: the proof was in his bag. It was also on my hands now too, which had a wonderful stinky odor on them. What a smell! I wondered what chemical or chemicals were responsible for it, and was the smell meant to disgust humans, so as to put us off fishing? I would test the smell on my mother later, and get a reaction. 

The man waved down at me from the bridge, and I waved back. Hmm, "Keep the faith", again. Maybe he really might mean the fishing faith and the science faith? I always liked to give unique characters equally unique names, and so, based on observation, and experience, his was clear. He would now be referred to, in my head at least, as The Keeper of the Faith. 

[Excerpted from Kevin Mc's new book, The Molecules, which will be published in July, 2012]