"Except for children (who don't know enough not to ask the important questions), few of us spend much time wondering why Nature is the way it is; where the Cosmos came from, or whether it was always here; if time will one day flow backward, and effects precede causes; or whether there are ultimate limits to what humans can know. There are even children, and I have met some of them, who want to know what a black hole looks like; what is the smallest piece of matter; why we remember the past and not the future; and why there is a Universe ...
... There are naive questions, tedious questions, ill-phrased questions, questions put after inadequate self-criticism. But every question is a cry to understand the world. There is no such thing as a dumb question."
For almost all of us reading this piece, the above quote by this chap is really a giveaway. He was an astronomer. More specifically, he studied cosmology - the branch that deals with the origin and the fate of the universe. His instrumental work in astronomy included till then the most accurate predictions of environmental conditions on the planet Venus and moons of Jupiter and Saturn. He correctly predicted presence of water on Europa. He concentrated much of his attention in the later part of his career to search for exoplanets and seeking any evidence for extra-terrestrial life. He was in fact a pioneer of this particular quest. He was the first one to demonstrate forming of amino acids from non-organic chemicals by radiation.
All of these achievements in astronomy and astrophysics are very significant in their own right. The work in space research in general, NASA missions in particular, and search for extra-terrestrial intelligence is in fact pioneering and unparalleled. But this chap is known the most for his most significant contribution. He is - quite simply - the greatest scientific storyteller and science populariser of our time. And that's no understatement. We have him and the likes of him to thank for whatever small reduction we've seen in the colossal amount of unscientific and pseudo-scientific nonsense that passes for knowledge. And this is no understatement, either.
And yet he was far from an idealistic crusader for purity of scientific thought in life. "Bright, curious children are a national and world resource. They need to be cared for, cherished, and encouraged. But mere encouragement isn't enough. We must also give them the essential tools to think with ... ... Both scepticism and wonder are skills that need honing and practice. Their harmonious marriage within the mind of every schoolchild ought to be a principal goal of public education". If ever there is a worldwide practical handbook of school education, it could start with these exact lines.
We lost him much earlier than we thought and hoped for. But if we make an honest and committed attempt to answer the very next question - any question - asked to us by any child, and go online or open a book to find the answer in case we don't know it, then his spirit of "marriage of skepticism and wonder" lives (it lives metaphorically of course - he would never have approved this writeup if I had left any ambiguity on spirits living!)
There is no such thing as a dumb question, indeed. Happy 79th birthday Carl Sagan.
... There are naive questions, tedious questions, ill-phrased questions, questions put after inadequate self-criticism. But every question is a cry to understand the world. There is no such thing as a dumb question."
For almost all of us reading this piece, the above quote by this chap is really a giveaway. He was an astronomer. More specifically, he studied cosmology - the branch that deals with the origin and the fate of the universe. His instrumental work in astronomy included till then the most accurate predictions of environmental conditions on the planet Venus and moons of Jupiter and Saturn. He correctly predicted presence of water on Europa. He concentrated much of his attention in the later part of his career to search for exoplanets and seeking any evidence for extra-terrestrial life. He was in fact a pioneer of this particular quest. He was the first one to demonstrate forming of amino acids from non-organic chemicals by radiation.
All of these achievements in astronomy and astrophysics are very significant in their own right. The work in space research in general, NASA missions in particular, and search for extra-terrestrial intelligence is in fact pioneering and unparalleled. But this chap is known the most for his most significant contribution. He is - quite simply - the greatest scientific storyteller and science populariser of our time. And that's no understatement. We have him and the likes of him to thank for whatever small reduction we've seen in the colossal amount of unscientific and pseudo-scientific nonsense that passes for knowledge. And this is no understatement, either.
And yet he was far from an idealistic crusader for purity of scientific thought in life. "Bright, curious children are a national and world resource. They need to be cared for, cherished, and encouraged. But mere encouragement isn't enough. We must also give them the essential tools to think with ... ... Both scepticism and wonder are skills that need honing and practice. Their harmonious marriage within the mind of every schoolchild ought to be a principal goal of public education". If ever there is a worldwide practical handbook of school education, it could start with these exact lines.
We lost him much earlier than we thought and hoped for. But if we make an honest and committed attempt to answer the very next question - any question - asked to us by any child, and go online or open a book to find the answer in case we don't know it, then his spirit of "marriage of skepticism and wonder" lives (it lives metaphorically of course - he would never have approved this writeup if I had left any ambiguity on spirits living!)
There is no such thing as a dumb question, indeed. Happy 79th birthday Carl Sagan.
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