The universe competition is now closed!

The Theory of Relativity is one of science’s most well-known theories (if not most well-understood!). Its author, Albert Einstein, was one of the greatest minds of the 20th Century. But while you might not have a piece of theoretical physics up your sleeve, you’ll almost certainly have a piece of poetry waiting to burst out.

To tie in with National Science Week (11-20 March 2005) and Einstein Year, the BA launched universe, a competition based around the work of the famous physicist.

The competition was launched at the CCLRC Chilbolton Observatory - used as an advanced experimental meteorological radar, and also as a radio telescope – which became the unusual subject of some physics poetry. The 25m dish was used to project a poem onto for the launch of the Universe competition on the evening of 12 January.

See an image of the launch here (JPEG, 53KB)

Here’s are a couple of poems for starters…

universe limerick

There was a young man who travelled in time
Went forwards and backwards, always covered in grime
But he found his speech worse
When time-travelling in reverse
He'd say "future the from visitor a I'm."

universe haiku

Shimmering, the stars
'Gainst dark curtain of nightfall
Sprinkling of fine dust

For more inspiration, take a look at our Ideas and Resources section.

If you want to take part in National Science Week, don’t forget that there are will be over a thousand events across the UK. Our online programme of events is constantly being updated, so make sure you check out what’s on in your area. In fact, you could even organise an event yourself – everything you need to organise it can be found on our website.