In Defense of Astronomy – Frederick M Walter – Wang room 201 – noon
Dept of Physics & Astronomy
Astronomy was once crucial to civilized life. The first of the quantitative scientists, astronomers provided humanity with the calendar, and with the tools to safely navigate over the seas. Today there are those who maintain that Astronomy (in which I include space exploration) is an expensive luxury, one we cannot afford to pursue. I will argue to the contrary – that understanding the nature of the cosmos is even more critical today to our survival as a technological civilization. I will drive this home with a warning that the Sun could someday wipe out civilization as we know it.
On the positive side, I will talk about astronomy as a gateway to re-excite students of all ages about science. I will, though, wrap up with a confession – astronomy is fun – and a short exposition about exploding stars.
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