Receiving the National Medal of Science is the thrill of a lifetime, but good science does not happen in isolation.
Sandra FaberRead
One lesson astronomy tells us is that we're a tiny mote in a hostile void, and help is too far away.
Interpretation
This quote highlights our smallness in the vast universe and the loneliness that can come from it.
Sandra Faber's quote underscores the humbling perspective that astronomy provides, illustrating how humans are merely insignificant specks in the vast cosmos. It also conveys a sense of isolation, suggesting that the universe can feel unfriendly, and the search for help or connection may seem distant and unreachable.
In practice
During a lecture on astrophysics, this quote can be used to emphasize our place in the universe.
Receiving the National Medal of Science is the thrill of a lifetime, but good science does not happen in isolation.
Radio has no future." "X-rays are clearly a hoax". "The aeroplane is scientifically impossible.
Our best theories are not only truer than common sense, they make more sense than common sense...
Until now the theory of infinite series in general has been very badly grounded. One applies all the operations to infinite series as if they were finite; but is that permissible? I think not. Where is it demonstrated that one obtains the differential of an infinite series by taking the differential of each term? Nothing is easier than to give instances where this is not so.
Nothing has tended more to retard the advancement of science than the disposition in vulgar minds to vilify what they cannot comprehend.
The solution of the difficulty is that the two mental pictures which experiment lead us to form - the one of the particles, the other of the waves - are both incomplete and have only the validity of analogies which are accurate only in limiting cases.
In future, children won't perceive the stars as mere twinkling points of light: they'll learn that each is a 'Sun', orbited by planets fully as interesting as those in our Solar system.
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