Tract

I just finished reading the debut issue of Tract, a magazine about the relationship between science and the arts that features the work of students from UNC-Chapel Hill and Harvard. There is a spotlight on the photography of Eric J. Heller, a physicist at Harvard who somehow creates photographic images of the movement of electrons across real-life objects. The color photo "Banyan" is otherworldly. There is poetry from Megan Jordan, easily my favorite writer who went to school here last year, and Phillip McFee contributes two great fiction pieces. Both writers are affiliated with UNC. Caleb Goodrum writes an interesting piece about making a dobro-style instrument called "The Burro" for a UNC Physics & Music class.

I love science almost as much as I love creative writing, and seeing the two paired makes me so happy, especially when it is in such a well put together publication. Volume 1, number 1 (Spring 2007) has a black matte cover and features a stunning picture of cauliflower (from an article about fractals and the Romanesco cauliflower.) Science is one of the most difficult subjects to write about in a manner that doesn't resemble a service manual, and the majority of pieces in Tract 1.1 do a good job of making science sound a great deal more accessible. If you are on the Carolina campus, or the Harvard one too I presume, pick up a copy and read through it. I really enjoyed it.