Category Archives: astronomy

astronomy, educational failure

Sometimes You Have to Shake Your Head

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And Wonder

Astronomy is one of those sciences that acts as a gateway to other sciences. That doesn’t mean it’s easy — but it does have an attraction to many people.  So, we use it to get folks interested in other sciences. But, what does it mean when students cannot even use simple everyday tools of science?

I’m not going to mention names or states in the U.S., but recent correspondence in my mailbox brings stories of college students in one state who don’t know how to use a ruler.  You know, one of those things that we all grow up using to measure things?  It doesn’t matter in which scale the ruler is printed — the students I read about didn’t know how to use a ruler.   Another correspondent described college students who didn’t understand the concept of scale on a map — as in “one inch equals XXX miles.”  These were college students. Presumably they went through some kind of educational process before getting to college — but I have to wonder just what was taught in the schools they attended.  I could venture that perhaps math and science were devalued in their schools so that something else could be taught.

One wonders how these people will get through life doing daily tasks — let alone understanding astronomy or chemistry or any of the sciences that affects our lives.  I wish these stories were just anecdotal to one place in the world, but they are representative of  too many places in the U.S. alone where science and common sense and just plain thinking weren’t taught or valued.

astronomy

Astronomy on the High Seas

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The Ocean of Space from the Ocean of Earth

I’ve been absent from my blog for a couple of weeks because I’ve been out doing astronomy lectures onboard a cruise ship. This is the second of three cruise gigs I’ve signed up to do and, just as with the first one, I’ve learned a lot from my passengers and the experience of lecturing on a ship.  The lectures themselves go pretty easily — although lecturing on a stage on a swaying ship and trying to look sideways or backward at my slides can be something of a challenge.

Passengers always ask good questions when we meet on board the ship and they find out I’m the astronomy lecturer.  As you might imagine, one of the most-often asked ones is about black holes.  And that’s kind of interesting — black holes really grab people’s attention. Answering their questions gives me a chance to talk about a variety of subtopics in astronomy — from stellar evolution to galaxy evolution.

Another question that usually crops up is whether or not I believe there’s life “out there.” And, that one gives me a chance to talk about planetary formation and all the factors that make it possible for life to exist.  A related question is whether I’ve seen little green men, to which I’ve often said, “No, but I’ve seen some big green-looking men when the ship is really rockin’ and rollin’ in a storm” (which doesn’t usually happen too often).

Most of the people on the ships I’ve lectured on have been quite interested in astronomy — and when we get a chance to do top-deck stargazing (not as often as I’d like due to weather, etc.) — people do show up and are fascinated with whatever I can point out.

It’s a fun experience and just one of the many International Year of Astronomy activities that I and astronomers around the world are doing.  Cruise lectures reach an audience that runs across race and gender — and the experience always teaches me something new about what excites people about astronomy.