瑞克•芬伯格博士是哈佛大学天文学博士，著名的天文学家和天文科普作家。国际天文学联合会用他的名字命名了9983号小行星。他一直很支持我们牧夫天文交流会和牧夫天文论坛的工作。以下是他的贺信。
Dear friends,
Hello from Rick Fienberg, Editor in Chief of Sky & Telescope magazine in
the United States of America. I appreciate this opportunity to address you
as you gather together for the second annual Bootes Star Party. This is a
beautiful time of year to observe the starry sky.
Science is the world's strongest force promoting understanding and respect
between cultures. All people who seek to discover truths about the universe
around us, and all who treasure those discoveries once they are made, stand
as equals -- no matter who we are, no matter where we are.
It has always been so. During ages of barbarism, it was the scholars who
transcended the ignorance and foolish hatreds around them and reached out
to their brothers in other lands. They spoke different languages, wore
different clothes, lived in different ways. But in their passionate studies
-- of everything from the method by which plants grow, to the actions of
disease in the body, from the behavior of worms in mud, to the motions of
the planets in the heavens -- they understood that they were brothers in
their search for knowledge and understanding.
In some ages, such people lived lonely, difficult, misunderstood lives amid
the unreason around them. In our age, we are lucky not to be quite so
alone. We who share this vision are part of a worldwide community of people
from every land who treasure enlightenment amid the darkness around us. We
believe that working to understand the universe -- rigorously testing ideas
against reality, challenging discoveries, seeking proofs of them by
evidence, refining our ideas in this way -- creates a humble respect for
the universe, and for each other, and is the long-term hope of the human race.
Astronomy, the oldest science, has always been at the forefront of this
nation of brothers in scientific understanding. Today astronomers are
seeing much farther into the depths of the universe than our ancestors ever
imagined possible. Bit by bit, we have pieced together incredible vistas of
creation next to which we and our entire Earth are less than ants in an
anthill. But when we little ants look up and strive to learn of these
things, we are ennobled beyond ants. We see the light that can lead us out
of darkness. We see that we can take our fates in our hands and create a
future for humanity that will be better than the past, or the present.
Sharing this understanding with each other is a first step.
Let's remember this as we, and people the world over, gaze up at the night
sky this week. Let's remember that the same stars and planets shine down on
all of us. We are one species under one beautiful universe.
Thank you very much. All of us at Sky & Telescope wish you good night, and
clear skies! |
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