Science and Wonder
May. 16th, 2013 11:05 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
browngirlWhile I’m being opinionated in public….
“I still hear some people say that science takes the wonder out life. Those
people are utterly and completely wrong.
Science takes us to the wonder.” - Phil Plait
When I saw this quotation I cheered in agreement, and then Tigerlily kindly found the following banner for me:
I have always, always disagreed with the idea that science destroys wonder by providing explanations, not least because those explanations lead us to more things that are unexplained, and also because science reveals wonders we could not have reached otherwise. We know Saturn has rings, that it has moons, because of science; all our unaided eyes can see is a point of light, and it takes science to even track that point’s movements, wonder to want to know why that point holds steady and why it moves amongst the twinkling stars. Now we’re mapping its moon Titan, and oh, that thought fires my imagination – can’t you just see someone in a protective suit (or looking through the feed from an exploratory robot) standing on ice rocks beside a waxy methane stream, consulting the great-great-great-grandchild of that map? Wonder and science both right there, so intertwined they’re difficult to disentangle.
I object to the idea that science destroys wonder because it’s wrong but more importantly because it’s used to attack science, to dismiss the search for knowledge, to justify removing resources from it, to indulge in ignorance. And I meant to make this paragraph a graceful lead-in to the next link but that was several interruptions ago, so instead, here is Col. Chris Hadfield beautifully singing afilk version of “Space Oddity” while on the International Space Station. Full of science and utterly wonderful.
http://colchrishadfield.tumblr.com/post/50288863972/with-deference-to-the-genius-of-david-bowie
“I still hear some people say that science takes the wonder out life. Those
people are utterly and completely wrong.
Science takes us to the wonder.” - Phil Plait
When I saw this quotation I cheered in agreement, and then Tigerlily kindly found the following banner for me:
I have always, always disagreed with the idea that science destroys wonder by providing explanations, not least because those explanations lead us to more things that are unexplained, and also because science reveals wonders we could not have reached otherwise. We know Saturn has rings, that it has moons, because of science; all our unaided eyes can see is a point of light, and it takes science to even track that point’s movements, wonder to want to know why that point holds steady and why it moves amongst the twinkling stars. Now we’re mapping its moon Titan, and oh, that thought fires my imagination – can’t you just see someone in a protective suit (or looking through the feed from an exploratory robot) standing on ice rocks beside a waxy methane stream, consulting the great-great-great-grandchild of that map? Wonder and science both right there, so intertwined they’re difficult to disentangle.
I object to the idea that science destroys wonder because it’s wrong but more importantly because it’s used to attack science, to dismiss the search for knowledge, to justify removing resources from it, to indulge in ignorance. And I meant to make this paragraph a graceful lead-in to the next link but that was several interruptions ago, so instead, here is Col. Chris Hadfield beautifully singing a
http://colchrishadfield.tumblr.com/post/50288863972/with-deference-to-the-genius-of-david-bowie
