Why bother with tentative research?
Our astronomer ponders the state of the science in the middle of the last century, when things were so different and difficult.
If it’s worth doing. . .
Articles Tagged with history
The distance to the stars
A matter of small and big numbers
Having mentioned the difficulty of finding the distances to stars last week, our astronomer tries to put some unfamiliar numbers within your grasp.
A plausible assumption
It’s reasonable and makes sense, but it’s wrong
Our astronomer describes how an assumption widely made in his science in past years turned out to be completely erroneous.
Why an f-stop?
It’s all the astronomers’ fault
Our photographic consultant is reminded how complicated things are for beginners, no matter how straightforward it all seems to the professionals.
Applied numerology
Why astronomers are natural translators
Our astronomer offers an apology and an explanation.
Toy poodles, the Belmont Stakes and wheat
Prehistoric biotechnology
Our astronomer steps out of his area of expertise to comment on biology.
For the long run
One of our consultants has been working on a genealogical project this past week. It prompts some thoughts on the difference between science and scholarship as well as the longevity of documents.
The color of parchment
Scientists and scholars in partnership
One of the advantages of living in the Washington, DC area is the wealth of cultural opportunities. Expositions of science, history and the arts are going on all the time. Our astronomer attended one of these recently, telling the story of how multicolor imaging allowed scholars to read a text that had been erased centuries ago.