Another science poem!! YAY! I’m had so much fun writing science poetry about Alfred Nobel, so here’s a science poem about another cool Nobel Prize-winning scientist.

Today’s poetry form is the much-loved limerick!

Poetry form: Limerick

A funny five-line poem with a rhyming scheme of AABBA. The ‘A’ lines have 7–10 syllables and the ‘B’ lines have 5–7 syllables.

Nobel Laureate: Linda B Buck

Linda B Buck and her colleague Richard Axel were awarded the 2004 Nobel Prize for Medicine for their work in unravelling the brain chemistry of how we can smell. Before this work, we had little idea of how smelling worked in our brains. My limerick is an homage to this work 🙂

What’s that smell?

By Cristy Burne

There is a gene puzzler who knows

If you smell a big stink (like your toes)

All your odourant receptors

Are protein detectors

That signal your brain from your nose.

How good are limericks!?!?! So much fun to write! Anyone want to write another science limerick? Go on, make me laugh! (Or cry, but that’s harder with a limerick ;-))

Want to learn more about some of Australia’s science heroes? Check out Aussie STEM Stars and help spread the word of our great Australian science stars.