How little we know, a poem

I just picked up a book I'd ordered about the physical chemistry of
leather tanning, and opened it to see this epigram on the first page:

"We dance round in a ring and
suppose. But the secret sits
in the middle and knows."

I suspect that pretty much sums up the current state of knowledge about
"tanning" and its analogues.
kt
Received on Thu May 6 18:29:56 2004