Off to a Good Start

I was, just a few moments ago, reading something that referred to the first sentence in a book, and instantly I realized I had forgotten to share my favorite. It's certainly not quite so familiar, say, as

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.*

or

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.**

but I found it very witty and effective.

This sentence comes from John Wilks, The Properties of Liquid and Solid Helium (Oxford : Clarendon Press, 1966). When I was in graduate school, doing my dissertation experiment measuring transport properties in liquid helium in our low-temperature lab, this book was my constant companion. I bought my own copy as a special treat sometime c. 1980, paying (if I remember correctly) about $75 for it at the time, which seemed exceedingly expensive to me, a poor graduate student.

Anyway, this is the first sentence in the book:

Helium exists in three natural isotopes: 3He, 4He, and 6He; as 6He has a half-life of only 0.67 seconds it need concern us no further.

Such dispatch! True to his word, the short-lived isotope is never once mentioned again in the remaining 700 pages of the book.

———-
* Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, of course.

**Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities.

Posted on March 7, 2007 at 23.14 by jns · Permalink
In: All, Books

4 Responses

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  1. Written by rightsaidfred
    on Thursday, 8 March 2007 at 07.16
    Permalink

    Under what conditions does He 6 exist?

  2. Written by jns
    on Thursday, 8 March 2007 at 13.01
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    Helium-6 would only appear as a product of a nuclear fusion, as in stellar fusion cycles, or in a chain of radioactive decay products from another isotope created in a fusion cycle. It decays itself by beta decay, ejecting an electron (presumably converting a neutron to a proton, so the atom becomes an isotope of Lithium-6).

    I beg off giving further information at this point since I never did nuclear physics. If we're lucky, a nuclear chemist will come along and answer all our questions!

  3. Written by Melanie
    on Thursday, 8 March 2007 at 21.45
    Permalink

    Favourite first sentences are so individual; we once held a book club meeting at our library devoted to first lines. I do think that the first first line above had to be the most quoted of all. Strangely enough, no-one mentioned helium.

  4. Written by S.W. Anderson
    on Friday, 9 March 2007 at 00.10
    Permalink

    If I'm not mistaken, 6He's half-life of 0.67 seconds is about double that of the longest flash of brilliance The Decider is known to have ever had.

    (Please, I couldn't resist.)

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