[youtube=http://youtu.be/e8P1Y1a7-L4&w=700]
Astrophysicist Dr. Neil DeGrasse Tyson was asked in an interview with TIME magazine, "What is the most astounding fact you can share with us about the Universe?" This is his answer. [vimeo http://vimeo.com/38101676 w=700&h=380]
By Schlick, who says:
Special thanks to: Reid Gower saganseries.com/ Michael Marantz vimeo.com/2822787 Carl Sagan hulu.com/cosmos Neil deGrasse Tyson facebook.com/neiltyson NASA nasa.gov/ ...for their inspiration.
Here are some edited highlights from the original interview (full video at bottom of page):
What's the difference between astronomy and astrophysics? There was a day long ago when all you could do to study the universe was pull out a telescope and look up. Physics did not come of age until the late 1800s. Now any modern-day astronomer is also an astrophysicist. We use them interchangeably.
What should be done about the fact that American children lag behind kids in other countries in science and math? We need to do something about the stigma. Somehow it's O.K. for people to chuckle about not being good at math. Yet if I said I never learned to read, they'd say I was an illiterate dolt. You can't look at science and math as separate. They're fundamental to what it is to be alive because they're all around us. Which area of astrophysics interests you the most? I'm fascinated by the deaths of stars and the havoc they wreak on their environments. As a public scientist, I like the subjects the public likes: the search for life, NASA missions, black holes, the Big Bang. Do you believe in the possibility of extraterrestrial life? Anyone who has studied the problem recognizes the likelihood that there's life elsewhere in the universe. Now, if you want to say that there is life out there that is intelligent and built a flying saucer and traversed the galaxy to come here and land on Earth and be spotted by people who see lights in the sky ... okaaay. What is your favorite part of the work you do? When someone comes up to me with a question about the universe. And I reply. And I see the person's eyes light up because they learned something new.
You talk about events that can cause the end of the world. Does this keep you up at night? Yes! If it doesn't keep you awake at night, what's wrong with you? However, it might keep me awake in a different way. I think of ways to prevent them from happening.
How long do you think it will be until we colonize other planets? Do you know that Antarctica is balmier and wetter than the surface of Mars? Yet I don't see people lining up to build condos in Antarctica. So how long? A thousand years. Never. We can visit them. But to land there and say, "What an oasis!"--not anytime soon. If you could meet any scientist who ever lived, who would it be? Isaac Newton. No question about it. The smartest person ever to walk the face of this earth. The man was connected to the universe in spooky ways. He discovered the laws of motion, the laws of gravity, the laws of optics. Then he turned 26.
What is your favorite science-fiction movie, and in that movie, what science is plausible? Deep Impact and Contact. They spent a lot of time getting the science right. I'm on a crusade to get movie directors to get their science right because, more often than they believe, the science is more extraordinary than anything they can invent.
Do you think that man is fully capable of understanding the universe's design? I lose sleep at night wondering whether we are intelligent enough to figure out the universe. I don't know.
Watch how he talks about Isaac Newton:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiOwqDmacJo&w=700]
I love to see passion like this for learning. Makes me want to be better at EVERYTHING.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9KT4M7kiSw&w=700]
Clarity is one of the toughest things to learn and apply, yet some people are blessed with an extraordinary knack for helping others understand things.
Even if I already know the basics of what something is or how it might work, it's always fascinating to see a real expert explain it in their own way. I always learn something more from it.
Take a few minutes to watch this video of the American astronomer Carl Sagan explaining the 4th dimension (and his little soap opera about the square from the second dimension going on a mind bending trip and seeing inside his friends).
Sagan sounds amazing. He wrote and spoke about the dangers of nuclear winter during the Reagan days, was UFO-sceptic, had legal wranglings with Apple, all sorts. Turns out he also used to teach a course on critical thinking, which would have been fascinating. Check his biog on Wikipedia too - he must have been a truly inspirational character.
Some things he said:
A celibate clergy is an especially good idea, because it tends to suppress any hereditary propensity toward fanaticism.
The fact that some geniuses were laughed at does not imply that all who are laughed at are geniuses. They laughed at Columbus, they laughed at Fulton, they laughed at the Wright Brothers. But they also laughed at Bozo the Clown.
Skeptical scrutiny is the means, in both science and religion, by which deep thoughts can be winnowed from deep nonsense.
The universe is not required to be in perfect harmony with human ambition.
For small creatures such as we the vastness is bearable only through love.
