I have said before that plasmas are often considered an art more than a science. This is true in industry where plasmas are developed to do many exotic things and then locked in copy exact mode to perform the same feat forever.  It is why plasma measurement is usually referred to as plasma diagnostics rather than plasma measurement.  It is also why there is no real market for plasma sensors. Imagine another industry using thermal ovens without thermometers.  Am I the only person with this view? I would welcome your comments.

A friend of mine, Rita O’Donoghue from Galway, has written a poem about electrons, so I dedicate this to all the Plasma Fusion guys, especially those with magnetic pinch devices.

The Dance of the Electrons

He was one of the most dependable and stable of elements
the very foundation and workhorse of society
as any woman worth her physics will tell you
that he almost always avoided relationships
withstood all attempts to split, even with a bit of quark

Being a fermion he did not like being too close
Or share space; it excited his energy levels
so he almost always avoided other electrons
except of course
those in very powerful magnetic fields
who frequently associate with each other
and for a time the union maintained its charge

But as even the dogs in the streets know
when electrons in powerful magnetic fields
associate with one another and behave
like quantum fluid, inevitably they form
new types of particles.

One night, all hell broke loose
an electron charge, baring only a fraction,
acted as a bosom in a strong magnetic field
and finally made the connection:
He found himself like a like a storm at sea.
a force blown on every magnetic wind
where electrons of this or that quantum fluid
moved in and out between his eddies and waves
without ever being properly charged, until one day
a new phenomena was created, and changed him
and all he thought his, irrevocably.