Starry Messenger: Cosmic Perspectives on Civilisation

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Moreover, personally, I also despair when I look at how little people nowadays actually KNOW. We have more access to more knowledge than any other human in the history of mankind, yet we are too lazy to LEARN. Why? Because we can always google it, I guess. *snorts* We have smartphones and know what button to press for what feature but we don't understand the tech itself. Most people don't even know that the computing power contained in a musical greeting card is all we had and all it took to take us to the Moon! Has the computing power of an iPhone gotten us to Mars? Nope! I feel stagnation and it's driving me up the walls.

This selection of engravings, charts, diagrams, and texts reveals the furred and cratered faces, the portents and instruments in European observations of the heavens from the sixteenth through the eighteenth century. Drawing in part on a recently acquired collection of early modern comet literature, these items explore the fascination and anxiety with the world, its state, and its possibilities of imperfection that infused the early modern European discussions of the stars. The Exhibition Linda Hall Library has a scanned first edition, as well as a scanned pirated edition from Frankfurt, also from 1610.

This book, additionally to educating us about how certain aspects of our current world work, teaches us to look at the world and see how far we've come. What we wouldn't have (creature comforts as well as the so-called bare necessities of modern life) if it wasn't for science and research. The real problem arises when the sense of superiority applies not to an individual....but to an entire demographic. This can lead to war, genocide, and other atrocities. Tyson notes that fields of study like mathematics and physical sciences resist human bias, so are less susceptible to feelings of superiority. Tyson admits the researchers themselves can be racist, sexist, misanthropes. However, the scientists' prejudices won't be in textbooks, because published results MUST be reproducible to be considered valid. I fully appreciate the importance of science educators and communicators. Their job is challenging in many ways. However, Neil deGrasse Tyson seems like the kind of guy who would show up at your grandmother's funeral and say (in a soothing, ethereal tone), "Did you know that in this season and climate, your grandmother's body would fully decompose in approximately four weeks time? Even with the embalming process briefly slowing decomposition, her enzymes and bacteria are already beginning the process of breaking down her body. It's all part of the cycle of life."

A warts-and-all portrait of the famed techno-entrepreneur—and the warts are nearly beyond counting. In the autumn of 1609, the Italian mathematician and astronomer Galileo Galilei turned his telescope to the heavens, deciphering the cratered face of the moon, the four satellites of Jupiter, and other previously opaque features of the heavens. When, in 1610, Galileo published his Sidereus Nuncius, or Starry Messenger, the German astronomer Johannes Kepler responded with enthusiasm, praising the significance of Galileo’s observations with his own Dissertatio cum Nuncio Sidereo, or, Conversations with the Starry Messenger (1610). To whom else did the stars speak in the early modern period? Sidereus Nuncius, in Latin in HTML format, or in Italian in pdf format or odt format. From LiberLiber. The conflict ended in 1633 with Galileo being sentenced to a form of house arrest by the Catholic Church. [2] Translations [ edit ] English [ edit ]

So although I was not the target audience since I don't need to be convinced of the importance of research and the correctness of truth and science, I enjoyed reading this - especially since I also got the audio which was read to me by the author himself. Galileo's drawings of an imperfect Moon directly contradicted Ptolemy's and Aristotle's cosmological descriptions of perfect and unchanging heavenly bodies made of quintessence (the fifth element in ancient and medieval philosophy of which the celestial bodies are composed).

My brain needed the rational thoughts of Neil deGrasse Tyson, and his many thought experiments, especially at the moment. It was the best book I could have been reading the last two weeks. As I was reading this, I didn't expect to learn anything new, but that wasn't really the point. Even the title hints at its true purpose: to inspire awe. This allowed me to reflect in its content as reader rather than as a writer -- two different assignments, of course. Starry Messenger felt more like a summary of Neil's political worldview more than anything. Perhaps that's my fault for expecting a book on science/space etc. However, at one point, he tried to summarize the (very complicated) Israel & Palestine conflict in a few sentences. Much of what he said felt surface-level & unnecessary. The book is interesting, but I expected it to be more about science and less about random subjects. Still, Tyson is a smart, well-read, amusing guy and he provides tidbits you could use to sound smart at parties and gatherings. 🙂

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Incluso en algunos temas sentí que me dio una mirada superficial o que lo desvió a una arista que no me parecía tan interesante. Por ejemplo, en el primero sobre la belleza me hubiera gustado más, pero la enfocó en "la verdad es la belleza" y solo habló sobre la verdad objetiva, verdad personal y todo eso. Por eso siento que fue algo muy personal para él, pero que para una persona externa se sintió como solo anecdótico y no un libro que aportara algo. The first astronomer to publicly support Galileo's findings was Johannes Kepler, who published an open letter in April 1610, enthusiastically endorsing Galileo's credibility. It was not until August 1610 that Kepler was able to publish his independent confirmation of Galileo's findings, due to the scarcity of sufficiently powerful telescopes. [16] Even some of his factoids are housed in unnecessary fiction that really does not drive his point home hard. For example, he says that male reindeer shed their antlers in November, therefore Santa's reindeer are actually female and have been mis-gendered for countless years. Except, they're fictional reindeer. They can fly, so can't it be said that they magically keep their antlers? I understand that he's merely attempting to make the science "fun," but I also believe that basing your factual statements on something fictional undermines the fact itself. I can understand this being effective for very young audiences, but it seems like this book is not targeted towards them (considering the profanity). Bringing his cosmic perspective to civilization on Earth, Neil deGrasse Tyson shines new light on the crucial fault lines of our time—war, politics, religion, truth, beauty, gender, and race—in a way that stimulates a deeper sense of unity for us all.

My favorite part of Starry Messenger: Cosmic Perspectives on Civilization was the section about intelligent life in the universe, and why we think we'd ever be able to communicate with them. It all starts right here at home. Stillman Drake. Telescopes, Tides, and Tactics: A Galilean Dialogue about The Starry Messenger and Systems of the World, including translation of Galileo’s Sidereus Nuncius. London: University Of Chicago Press, 1983. 256 pp. ISBN 978-0226162317. At the time of Sidereus Nuncius ' publication, Galileo was a mathematician at the University of Padua and had recently received a lifetime contract for his work in building more powerful telescopes. He desired to return to Florence, and in hopes of gaining patronage there, he dedicated Sidereus Nuncius to his former pupil, now the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Cosimo II de' Medici. In addition, he named his discovered four moons of Jupiter the "Medicean Stars," in honor of the four royal Medici brothers. [3] This helped him receive the position of Chief Mathematician and Philosopher to the Medici at the University of Pisa. [9] Ultimately, his effort at naming the moons failed, for they are now referred to as the "Galilean moons". I was also troubled by what appeared to be his complete dismissal of the value of studying, and learning from, history. It seems as if only that which can be evaluated and interpreted in the current moment has merit to him. What we think and feel can't help but feed into our assessment of what is rational in non-scientific areas. And what we think and feel is in some part determined by cultural heritage - and history. By 1626 knowledge of the telescope had spread to China when German Jesuit and astronomer Johann Adam Schall von Bell published Yuan jing shuo, (Explanation of the Telescope) in Chinese and Latin.

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In 2004, Tyson was once again appointed by President Bush to serve on a nine-member commission on the Implementation of the United States Space Exploration Policy, dubbed the “Moon, Mars, and Beyond” commission. This group navigated a path by which the new space vision can become a successful part of the American agenda. And in 2006, the head of NASA appointed Tyson to serve on its prestigious Advisory Council, which guides NASA through its perennial need to fit ambitious visions into restricted budgets.