Twentieth century world turned upside down,

By knowledge then unfurled, now held renown.

Mediocrity stands tall — by measure of olden day —

Grade C students, after all, Einstein can assay.

Einstein, in turn took cue — Descartes, Moore,

Galileo and Newton, too, each steeped in Greek lore.

Think what an advantage: minds not having to reboot —

Physical world to gauge, giant shoulders under foot.

And so, in rarefied air, vision takes the wider view,

Encompasses angles of care, not of known milieu,

Peels away dark layers, with insistent probative query,

Knowledge exposure — equivalent to magic mastery.

Gifts from modern savants pass to greater culture,

Original and derived variants, they configure.

Ideas most useful shown, most exquisitely neat,

Giant — our age’s own — shoulders for future feet.

© 2008 R. Leland Waldrip