From Publishers Weekly
Bierds won national recognition and a 1998 MacArthur "genius" grant for elaborate yet accessible poems about technology and natural history; her compact seventh collection offers yet more supple work in that vein. A prose prologue and a set of short-lined poems named for liturgical hours ("Matins," "Vespers," etc.) introduce Gregor Mendel, the Moravian monk whose studies of peas laid the groundwork for modern genetics, and who surfaces throughout. Between moving depictions of Mendel's "grace and patience" come poems devoted to other sciences and other scientists: "the young Isaac Newton," the kite-flying Ben Franklin, Marie Curie, James Clerk Maxwell and the Scottish biologist who cloned Dolly the lamb. Many of these investigators, Bierds (The Seconds) suggests, seek not only the hidden link between mind and matter, or the secret of their identity: Franklin, for one, hopes "to be, at once,/ all body, all soul. That is the key." An eight-sonnet sequence closes the book by juxtaposing the monk's botanical practice with the poet's own experience of microscopy at the University of Washington–Seattle (where she teaches): all the poems find language for deep wonder at the mathematical and geometric patterns that undergird the visible world. (Apr.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Inspired by scientific and artistic geniuses, Bierds, a master of distillation and the recipient of many prestigious awards, including Guggenheim and MacArthur fellowships, has made it her practice in works such as The Seconds (2001) and The Profile Makers (1997) to portray such visionaries in imaginative, empathic, and pristine lyrics. In her seventh collection, she "trundles through the centuries," visiting gardens, laboratories, and studios. Here is Marie Curie, radiant before her radium; James Watson struggling with the puzzle of DNA; and Bernini sculpting. But it is the monk Gregor Mendel who provides the book's guiding light as he patiently hybridizes peas at a monastery in Moravia, lifting the veil on genetics and offering up a prayer, "Holy Father, do not think that I think of you less / when I think of you mathematically," succinct commentary on the ongoing conflict between religion and science. Bierds' poems are original, discerning, and joyous as she considers the shared perceptions and risk taking of artists and scientists, each enthralled by the myriad wonders and symmetrical beauties of life. Donna Seaman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Library Journal, April 1, 2005
...Bierds writes with the authority, incisiveness, and magic of one who has mastered her craft.... A nearly perfect book...

Book Description
MacArthur fellow Linda Bierds probes the borders of science and faith in a volume that takes this prizewinning poet to a new level of achievement.

The ghost of the good monk Gregor Mendel haunts these poems as they trundle through the centuries, swaying from wonder to foreboding and resting most often on the fault line of science, where human achievement brings both praise and disquietude.

These thirty linked poems display Linda Bierds at her best: strong, visceral, playful, infused with wonder and color, they both amaze and delight. Bierds's imagery has always been powerful, but here, the subtlety of its permutations throughout the volume is nothing short of breathtaking. Her treatment of substance and insubstantiality, of the material world and "the hummocks of naught"-the gaps filled perhaps by faith, perhaps by scientific progress-adds depth of meaning to the text, and her rich language sounds in the mind's ear to startling effect.

First Hand proves yet again that Linda Bierds is "a poet of magnitude" (Harold Brodkey). It is a book of wonders, a wondrous book.

About the Author
Linda Bierds is the author of seven volumes of poetry, most recently The Seconds. Among her many awards are a PEN-West poetry prize, two National Endowment for the Arts grants, and fellowships from the Ingram Merrill, John Simon Guggenheim, Wolfers-O'Neill, and John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur foundations.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

MacArthur fellow Linda Bierds probes the borders of science and faith in a volume that takes this prizewinning poet to a new level of achievement.

The ghost of the good monk Gregor Mendel haunts these poems as they trundle through the centuries, swaying from wonder to foreboding and resting most often on the fault line of science, where human achievement brings both praise and disquietude.

These thirty linked poems display Linda Bierds at her best: strong, visceral, playful, infused with wonder and color, they both amaze and delight. Bierds's imagery has always been powerful, but here, the subtlety of its permutations throughout the volume is nothing short of breathtaking. Her treatment of substance and insubstantiality, of the material world and "the hummocks of naught"-the gaps filled perhaps by faith, perhaps by scientific progress-adds depth of meaning to the text, and her rich language sounds in the mind's ear to startling effect.

First Hand proves yet again that Linda Bierds is "a poet of magnitude" (Harold Brodkey). It is a book of wonders, a wondrous book.

Author Bio: Linda Bierds is the author of seven volumes of poetry, most recently The Seconds. Among her many awards are a PEN-West poetry prize, two National Endowment for the Arts grants, and fellowships from the Ingram Merrill, John Simon Guggenheim, Wolfers-O'Neill, and John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur foundations.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly