Outraged at the title of this post? You should be.
Astronomy On The Side
Often astronomy is a hobby, and sometimes these “amateurs” make significant advances in the field. Take, for example, the story of Andrew Common.
Joseph Weber And The Failed Search For Gravitational Waves
Gravitational waves are the last great prediction of general relativity to be directly observed. According to Einstein’s theory of gravity, a mass in motion creates ripples in space and time. Ripples caused by large masses like binary neutron stars or black holes should be large enough for us to detect across light years. But despite recent rumors, no gravitational waves have been detected so far.
Is the Earth Really Round?
Whaddya mean?! Of course the Earth is round. It’s so mind numbingly obvious that the Earth is round. It’s an idea we rarely question. But suppose a curious child asked you to prove it. Pointing at a globe or a photograph isn’t enough for this young scientist. She wants to discover that the Earth is round for herself.
Climbing the Ladder
At the beginning of the 20th century, we were just beginning to map out our galaxy. By the end of the 20th century we had discovered a universe billions of light years across.
The Shoulders of Giants
Scientists don’t live in a vacuum. They build upon the ideas of their predecessors and peers. Take, for example, the curious case of Roger Bacon.
The Brilliance of Scientific Assumptions
How extrapolating beyond simple scientific facts takes our understanding into uncharted waters.
Once In A Blue Moon
You might have heard that tonight’s full moon is a blue moon, since it is the second full moon in the same month. While this is the most common definition for “blue moon,” it is not the only definition, nor even the oldest.
The Long Journey
For decades Pluto was simply a faint dot on a photographic plate. In less than a century we have turned a faint point of light into a beautiful reddish world.