Basic Science #1 Carbon Chemistry

I hope to write a series of posts on basic science, retelling the most memorable lessons in my life.  Basic science is the a discipline that combines all areas of mathematics with physics, chemistry and biology on the most theoretical level.  Not necessarily any immediate applications.  But the beauty of basic science is that it is universal and basically the truth.
This first lesson was in my senior year in high school, introduction to organic chemistry.  In the two previous years of chemistry studies I basically knew about the periodic table of elements like hydrogen, helium, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and so on. Nothing was standing out as exciting or amazing.
Organic chemistry is basically the chemistry of carbon.  Carbon is the basic element in all of life.  It is in the backbone of sugars, proteins and fats.  What is special about carbon?  Carbon has 4 electrons in its outer shell, so it can share these equally with another element by creating a bond that is represented either as two dots or a line.

The interesting thing about carbon is the diversity of the compounds that it can be found in.  In this lesson we learned about two substances made of only carbon:  Diamond and graphite:
Diamond is the hardest substance and graphite is soft and powdery.  The memorable phrase was: "Vive la petite difference!"  (Doesn't sound as nice in English: long live the difference.)

You can see there are only carbons in these two substances.  In diamond each carbon is connected to four other carbons making perfect 60 degrees angles equally distanced in space.  This perfect crystal structure gives it the hard quality.
In graphite the angles are not all the same, there are flat layers of carbons attached in strong bonds, connected to layers above and below attached in much weaker bonds that cause this substance to be powdery.

This lesson is unforgettable.  It taught me the importance of geometry in studying chemistry and biology.  It clarified the stick and ball models used to describe and predict the structure and activity of molecules in nature and in life.

In The Regenerative Garden with Natalie Sunshine

I had a best tasting fresh salad at my son’s Hanukkah party.  I was wondering which garden produced such tasty dill and Swiss chard.  I was delighted to be corrected that Natalie has not one but many gardens around Venice.  I immediately became best friends with this wonderful gardener who is pioneering the idea of regenerative gardens in the city.  She invited me to come to one of her classes and learn the basics of composting, germinating and planting.  She also told me to bring any compost I have at home.  I would like to share here what I have learned.

The garden at 681 Venice Blvd is supported by the organization Kiss the Ground. 

As you can see in the sign: Venice Arts Plaza Regenerative Garden:

http://www.yovenice.com/2015/04/28/kiss-the-ground-plants-green-future-at-venice-arts-plaza/

Natalie’s smile which is just like sunshine greeted me happily.  I handed her my bag with vegetable and fruit peels and similar trash.  We started by throwing our trash on top of the pile of soil and trash enclosed in a wooden frame.  Then she used a large pitchfork to mix it all and took a handful of the soil to show me how alive it is with healthy bugs necessary for regeneration and growth.

 

 

We moved on to the vermiculture: the compost pile started with red wigglers.

I remember these worms from my childhood.  Every winter right after the rain we used to dig in the ground and find these worms.  Our Science teacher explained how important they are in mixing the soil and accelerating germination and growth.  Natalie showed me that this pile is covered with straw on top.  At the bottom there is a filter and the excrement from the worms is collected.  She gathers it up biweekly and has a container of "tea" that she gives to other gardeners to fertilize their gardens. 
The next lesson was on germination: I used seeds of my choice to plant in pots that we placed in the green house.  My heirloom radishes should be ready in 45 days!  The pots contained seedlings planted by some kids.  We took some of the arugula plants and transferred them to the raised beds in the garden.

Note the yellow butterfly flying happily around the flowers:

I am really excited about this idea of regenerating the soil around the gardens in the city and teaching people to grow their own food.  Natalie told me how she learned some of these ideas from her farming family in Mexico who used sun flowers to regenerate the soil.  Different parts of the plant are used for various purposes.  But what I like best about sunflowers is the pattern of the seeds:

This pattern can be described mathematically by the Fibonacci numbers:

The first two Fibonacci numbers are 0 and 1. Each number after is the sum of the previous two.
0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, etc.
Fibonacci, called the Golden Ratio at its perfection, occurs beautifully in nature.

These are the things that excite me about science and nature.

Will close with a message about our earth: