by Maria Poulatha Johannes Plenio 1781 He dreams of a single helix made of crystal and he walks up the spiral steps and up the steps and up and up and up. There is no end to up. He is lighter than a leaf without a tree. 1784 Like all great accidents that birth invention, the giant model helix is struck by lightning the moment he steps onto it. Thinking “failure and ridicule” and eating peas drenched in cyanide, he had decided to end it. But then it begins. 1786 It’s true, he