Hooray for Science!

[Me-Ike]

I have always been in love with science. I read extensively about paleontology as a kid, about biology as a teen, about linguistics in recent years. Many more branches in between, less extensively but with as much vigor.

Then, not too long ago, I started to read up on Carl Sagan. I must admit that I didn't know who he was for the most part of my life, which may either be due to his not being featured very prominently in the region I hail from or, well, due to my ignorance. Because of certain narcissistic tendencies, let's assume the former to be true.

Anyway, after noticing again and again his name and a certain appreciation for him on the net, I decided to familiarize myself with him as well as his work and purchased The Demon-Haunted World; a book which perfectly fitted with my current interest in certain processes in science.

And oh, I am in love! His appreciation of science seeps through every page. Apart from numerous other statements which elicited my vigorous consent and many more quotes which would make this post crumble under its own weight, he sent my heart all aflutter when he wrote: "This book is a personal statement, reflecting my lifelong love affair with science." It's exactly how I usually describe my relationship with but not restricted to the English language; only I usually add the adjectives 'hot' and 'steamy'.
I cannot wait to read his other books, to look for videos on youtube!

Most importantly, though, the book has reminded me of the beauty of science and knowledge. Like Goethe's Faust we evermore yearn to perceive "was die Welt/Im Innersten zusammenhält". ("whatever holds/The world together in its inmost folds") And damn, we know a lot by now. Most of it mind-blowingly awesome. Mankind has put a man on the moon, cured diseases which robbed parents of their children for centuries, explained the existence of mountains, and - most importantly - invented the internet. We know about dinosaurs, bacteria, and atoms. The shape of the earth is no longer a mystery to us as well as a woman's menstruation. There's still a long way to go and, as much as it pains me to think about it, there have been and continue to be gruesome misuses of science. But to think of what else lies beyond the veil of our current knowledge sends shivers down my spine.

So, celebrate science with me! What do you love most about it? Which branch is your favorite? Which scientist do you think should be the first word of a child?

Hooray for science!

 

[The Badger]

Well said!

If you have not seen it already, go have a look at the Wiki page for 'the pale blue dot'. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_pale_blue_dot

Sagan's reflections always move me to tears when I read them.

 

[Me-Ike]

^ Oh yes, I know that! It makes you feel so insignificant and yet so filled with wonder at the same time. A little blue dot, filled with all our hopes, arts, history, people. Sagan says it so much better in that quote on the wiki page you linked.

I also heard at a seminar that Voyager initially wasn't planned to turn around and take that picture. It was supposed to just take the pictures of the planets on passing them and then, well, go further into space. But thanks to Sagan, there we are. I adore that man.

 

[Michael Chris]

Science is a wonderful thing!

 

[The Boy Who Cried Worf]

Sagan was a big influence on my love of science as a child. I watched the Cosmos show each time it came on PBS. I bought his books Cosmos, The Cosmic Connection, Broca's Brain, and he Dragons of Eden. In Junior High we even kind of had a little Carl Sagan fan club going. I haven't read most of his later books yet, although I have to admit I didn't really enjoy Pale Blue Dot that well. He seemed to grow a little bitter as the years went on and there is too much negativity in that book.

 

[thestrangequark]

Oh, I've been in love with Carl Sagan since I was a little girl watching Cosmos on PBS with her daddy! (I have the complete series on DVD now.) And Demon Haunted World is a great book. I also think he is the reason I've long held a deep sexual attraction towards thin professor types who are too old for me.

I live in Brooklyn and walk home most days from Manhattan over the Williamsburg bridge. A few years ago, after he passed away, I was quite touched to see some relevant graffiti on a sidewalk that can bee seen from the Brooklyn side of the bridge. Painted across the sidewalk, in huge letters so that it took up half the block, were the words "CARL SAGAN CARED!" The words have faded now, but they inspired me to draw this (back in '06):

Unfortunately, whilst I can draw a person's face perfectly, my handwriting has always been lacking.

 

[RJDiogenes]

^^ I've always loved that. You should put him up on deviantArt.

Carl Sagan was a great man and a great writer. Cosmos is one of the best books ever.

I've loved Science since before I can remember. Paleontology and Astronomy were the first I became interested in as a little kid, but that quickly expanded to pretty much all branches (especially anything to do with Physics).

That was a great Post, Me-Ike.

 

[TheLonelySquire]

Science is an excellent tool!

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

The Cosmos rocks.

 

[Me-Ike]

tsq, that picture is just all kinds of awesome!

Sadly, we didn't get Cosmos in Germany. But I have fond memories of watching science related shows with my father as well, only for us it was documentaries about animal life, preferably about whales. I even started to draw and write my very own encyclopaedia once, beginning (for very subjective reasons) with Orcinus Orca.

I've loved Science since before I can remember. Paleontology and Astronomy were the first I became interested in as a little kid, but that quickly expanded to pretty much all branches (especially anything to do with Physics).

Physics is so goose-bumpingly interesting, but I must admit that - apart from the basics - it goes a little over my head. The same with Chemistry. Which I hated in school, because we had the coolest experiments in my physics class! Biology one the other hand ...
But now that you mentioned that you also like paleontology, I cannot help but wonder about its absence on school curricula. Imagine how cool that class would have been!

That was a great Post, Me-Ike.

Thank you.

 

[Australis]

I remember being dazzled by Cosmos when it was first shown in Australia in '80 or '81. (On a personal note, I thought it was earlier than that, 77-79. But I digress).

This week, an Australian (Tasmanian) woman won the Nobel Prize.

Elizabeth Helen Blackburn, FRS (born November 26, 1948) is an Australian-American biological researcher at the University of California, San Francisco, who studies the telomere, a structure at the end of chromosomes that protects the chromosome. Blackburn co-discovered telomerase, the enzyme that replenishes the telomere. For this work, she was awarded the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, sharing it with Carol W Grader and Jack W Szostak.

That is cool. The potential for a) extending life, and b) stopping cancer, have taken a big leap forward, thankls to her/their work.

And someting I posted in TNZ (on a VERY different thread):

The latest discovery, COROT-exo-4b is an exoplanet of about the same size as Jupiter. It takes 9.2 days to orbit its star, the longest period for any transiting exoplanet ever found.
The team has found that the star, which is slightly larger than our Sun, is rotating at the same pace as the planet's period of revolution. This is quite a surprise for the team, as the planet is thought to be too low in mass and too distant from its star, for the star to have any major influence on its rotation.

How cool is that?

 

[Mr Awe]

I love science too! First saw Carl Sagan on Cosmos on PBS back in late 1979. It was aweseome. I was also fortunate enough to see Carl speak and get to meet him personally once.

I've been fortunate to have been a scientific researcher myself for quite a few years. Definitely not the case where seeing how it was done ruinied it. It just made it even cooler being on the inside.

Mr Awe

 

[SilentP]

The latest discovery, COROT-exo-4b is an exoplanet of about the same size as Jupiter. It takes 9.2 days to orbit its star, the longest period for any transiting exoplanet ever found.
The team has found that the star, which is slightly larger than our Sun, is rotating at the same pace as the planet's period of revolution. This is quite a surprise for the team, as the planet is thought to be too low in mass and too distant from its star, for the star to have any major influence on its rotation.

How cool is that?

Wait, just clarify this for me. This planet's year is 9.2 days long? And this is the longest out of the exoplanets found so far?

Jeeeez, you'd have to be careful navigating around them, considering how fast these buggers must be moving. Almost mind boggling.

 

[Zulu Romeo]

Carl Sagan never had quite the impact on me as a kid as it may have had on many other people, mostly because I wasn't really exposed to his work such as Cosmos. I was, however, exposed to the likes of David Attenborough, Patrick Moore and Johnny Ball, who all made their branches of science fun and accessible and above all, captivating, and as a child helped me become motivated to love science in all its forms.

It certainly helped me become the person I am.

 

[Jadzia]

How could you forget to mention Fred Harris?

 

[Zulu Romeo]

How could you forget to mention Fred Harris?

But of course, Fred Harris too! Still doing fine work on the British Forces Broadcasting Services, if I (and Wikipedia) recall correctly.

I'd also like to namecheck (from the world of medicine) Susan Greenfield and Gunther von Hagens.

 

[Holdfast]

I've found myself progressively less interested in science over the years, to be honest. I used to find it interesting, but ultimately, I find that the more I learnt, the more "nitpicky" (for want of a better word, though it's not quite what I mean) it got.

I have no patience for learning or processing zillions of details (though of course have had to do so in the past for various qualifications), preferring big picture or pattern-recognition/intuitive work.

Naturally, I'm very glad others still find science interesting, because for many things, scientific enquiry is a perfectly useful & acceptable algorithm for explanding knowledge. Plus it gives me cool gadgets & makes my life easier. I just don't find the details terribly interesting any more. I think I top out at about first or second year undergrad level in most sciences, in terms of when it crosses the boundary from interesting to boring for me.

I'd also like to namecheck (from the world of medicine) Susan Greenfield...

She was my undergrad neuroscience and pharmacology tutor and my dissertation supervisor too. One of the few people I know whose mind worked faster than mine - for every one thought I had, she had three. Tricky to keep up with her, which made her a lot of fun to work under. Very impressive mind. Interesting fashion sense though - very fond of miniskirts, red leather trousers, vertiginously high heels and the like. Haven't seen her in years though I gather her outfits are a little more sedate these days.

 

[Me-Ike]

I remember being dazzled by Cosmos when it was first shown in Australia in '80 or '81. (On a personal note, I thought it was earlier than that, 77-79. But I digress).

This week, an Australian (Tasmanian) woman won the Nobel Prize.

Elizabeth Helen Blackburn, FRS (born November 26, 1948) is an Australian-American biological researcher at the University of California, San Francisco, who studies the telomere, a structure at the end of chromosomes that protects the chromosome. Blackburn co-discovered telomerase, the enzyme that replenishes the telomere. For this work, she was awarded the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, sharing it with Carol W Grader and Jack W Szostak.

That is cool. The potential for a) extending life, and b) stopping cancer, have taken a big leap forward, thankls to her/their work.

Oh yes, I of course heard about that as well and also loved it. To think of the things within the human body we can still discover. All of this science began with cutting people open and taking a closer look, and now people have discovered how cancer is able to function so ruthlessly. Amazing! This always gives me hope that one day I might not have to fear cancer as much as we do nowadays.

And someting I posted in TNZ (on a VERY different thread):

The latest discovery, COROT-exo-4b is an exoplanet of about the same size as Jupiter. It takes 9.2 days to orbit its star, the longest period for any transiting exoplanet ever found.
The team has found that the star, which is slightly larger than our Sun, is rotating at the same pace as the planet's period of revolution. This is quite a surprise for the team, as the planet is thought to be too low in mass and too distant from its star, for the star to have any major influence on its rotation.

How cool is that?

Dude! Thanks for sharing that. That's is one really big bugger running around really fast.

How could you forget to mention Fred Harris?

I've never heard of him before and had to look him up. Makes me think that Germany has a serious lack of scientists in the media. I can't name one scientist who has influenced me as a kid! Americans grew up with Carl Sagan, Fred Harris a presenter in Britain ... if the world were a school yard we would be the extremely cool kid who doesn't get science. But is extremely cool. Yes, I am just saying that to make myself feel better.

I've found myself progressively less interested in science over the years, to be honest. I used to find it interesting, but ultimately, I find that the more I learnt, the more "nitpicky" (for want of a better word, though it's not quite what I mean) it got.

I have no patience for learning or processing zillions of details (though of course have had to do so in the past for various qualifications), preferring big picture or pattern-recognition/intuitive work.

Naturally, I'm very glad others still find science interesting, because for many things, scientific enquiry is a perfectly useful & acceptable algorithm for explanding knowledge. Plus it gives me cool gadgets & makes my life easier. I just don't find the details terribly interesting any more. I think I top out at about first or second year undergrad level in most sciences, in terms of when it crosses the boundary from interesting to boring for me.

Boo! Heretic! Burn him at the stake, I say, burn him!
You are of course completely right. Alexander von Humboldt may arguably have been the last Renaissance man (Or can anyone think of someone else?); ever since you had to pick one or maybe two fiels and stick with them if you wanted to get a good grasp of what was/is going on.

But even so, it's still fun to at least get the basics! To hear that there is a planet as big as Jupiter leading quite a stressful life although I have merely the most common knowledge in astronomy. To learn that not long ago the to date earliest proto-human might have been discovered even though my knowledge about evolution hardly exceeds evolution 101. Maybe we can't learn everything anymore, but even if the hard science is done by someone else, it still can fill us with wonder.

Let others do the work, I say, I'm here to reap the benefits.

 

[M'Sharak]

The latest discovery, COROT-exo-4b is an exoplanet of about the same size as Jupiter. It takes 9.2 days to orbit its star, the longest period for any transiting exoplanet ever found.
The team has found that the star, which is slightly larger than our Sun, is rotating at the same pace as the planet's period of revolution. This is quite a surprise for the team, as the planet is thought to be too low in mass and too distant from its star, for the star to have any major influence on its rotation.

How cool is that?

Wait, just clarify this for me. This planet's year is 9.2 days long? And this is the longest out of the exoplanets found so far?

Of transiting exoplanets -- those which can be detected because they cross between their parent star and our observation point on Earth/in Earth orbit, interrupting or partially obscuring the star's light (the plane of the planet's orbit must be perfectly edge-on from our perspective for this method to work.) Transiting exoplanets constitute only a smallish fraction of the total number of exoplanets found.

 

[Zulu Romeo]

Makes me think that Germany has a serious lack of scientists in the media. I can't name one scientist who has influenced me as a kid! Americans grew up with Carl Sagan, Fred Harris a presenter in Britain ... if the world were a school yard we would be the extremely cool kid who doesn't get science. But is extremely cool. Yes, I am just saying that to make myself feel better.

He was probably after your time, but did Gunther von Hagens ever make any appearances in Germany?

Although another great and inspirational figure I think we've all missed out is Stephen Hawking, now former Lucasian Professor at Cambridge Uni. I was fortunate to have attended a talk he gave, promoting his book "The Universe In A Nutshell" some years ago. It made me think more about how the Universe works. I never read "A Brief History of Time" though - in fact, I never even owned a copy.

As for today's kids.... well, I guess Prof. Brian Cox (the particle physicist and ex D:Ream keyboardist, not the Dundonian actor) would be the next closest thing to a scientist who may be inspiring our current generation.

Indeed, I've also wondered if astrophysicist Brian May needs more recognition among science fans. I can see him replacing Sir Patrick Moore on The Sky At Night, when Sir Patrick retires or passes away. (Yes, it's the same Brian May who made his guitar soar for Queen - a colleague of mine once joked that his thesis was entitled Open Your Eyes, Look Up To The Skies, And See. )