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Accessible Science
Sower of Science The Flower and Cook observatory is no longer a major research facility, although it continues to play an important part in teaching and public outreach. Much of the cutting-edge astronomical research is conducted remotely. Scientists analyze data in their offices after it's been collected by mostly automated systems and technology attendants. It's a "disconnect" between astronomy and the sky that Goldader admits has been productive in terms of new knowledge, but she still finds it troubling. The observatory's main telescope, a 28.5-inch reflector, was built in the 1930s, but it remains functional and is probably the biggest, most impressive scientific instrument most people will ever get to handle. "The tube is about 15 feet long and weighs several tons," she explains. "Students [and visitors] get it in their hands; they swing it around; they point it at the sky to a spot that's maybe the size of the eye on a dime, and they can see deeply into that little speck of the universe." Goldader wants her students to be able to read critically and with understanding the astronomy articles in the New York Times science section. A hands-on familiarity with the night sky helps make the theoretical lessons of the classroom more solid. To remain credible, she argues, a research university needs to hold open this kind of tangible and approachable glimpse into the knowledge it generates. "If you publish things that the public is out of touch with, they won't believe it, or they will have no basis on which to judge it." And, she adds, as taxpaying voters, they won't support what they don't understand because they won't think it's important. Seeds of Wonder "I realized, as I was getting through my thesis, that somebody else is going to figure out the infrared properties of interacting galaxies in clusters," she remarks. In a technological society, where science is an important part of life, she believes we need teachers who've done research and "really, really, really understand" itteachers who've taken science in their hands, swung it around, and pointed it at the sky. "Science isn't magic," she insists, "it's a method." Well, maybe. Many of her Astro 150 students returned to her office this fall to let her know how they'd spent the summer in India or France or Yellowstone Park. They told her how they'd found themselves talking casually about the wonders of the universe, drawing on the science they'd learned in her class. "To be able to sow those seeds and have them bear fruit all over the place is a much richer way for me to spend my life," says the purveyor of science and awe. "For the students to come back and tell me that they talked to others about astronomy while kickin' back a beer under a dark night sky at Yellowstone. . . .Wow!" For more information about the Flower and Cook Observatory and its public nights, visit the Penn observatories website.
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