For his post subject, Bill gave me the opportunity to pick a famous astronomer and do a “thumbnail” bio on him/her.  I’m going to take a bit of literary license here and talk about the astronomer I most admire.

The astronomer I most admire isn’t famous, for one thing.  He doesn’t get any recognition for his work.  He doesn’t even get paid for it; he does it for love of the science.

Yeah, like THAT'S going to stop us! Image found at sodahead.com

He is a scientist, really.  If you tell him, “The paint’s wet.”, chances are he’ll touch it.  Just to see if it’s really wet… and how wet.  He listens to the ideas of others; not just to be polite, but because he’s truly interested.  If the idea sounds like a load of equine offal, he’ll point that out.  It doesn’t matter if the purveyor of the equine offal is an astrophysicist with four or five PhD’s.  If it’s offal, my hero will say it’s offal.  And he’ll keep saying it, until someone can prove to him that the load of equine offal is, in fact, solid gold.

The astronomer I most respect has a regular job, and he puts in his hours there so he can provide for his family.  He’s still waiting to buy that telescope he wants.  He almost had it last year, but then he found out his daughter needed braces.  Maybe next year.

Image found at funnyanimatedemoticons.com

My guy wasn’t formally trained in astronomy.  Oh, he had the bare bones minimum they teach in public schools in order to kick you up to the next grade, but that was it.  What he did was start reading and learning on his own.  He found a fascination for astronomy; a love, a passion for the cosmos.  When he googles “star” on his computer, he’s looking for Epsilon Eridani, not Angelina Jolie.  He knows that Betelgeuse was a  star long before Michael Keaton’s claim for fame.

He argues passionately and intelligently about things like quasars and pulsars because it matters to him.

There you have it:  A thumbnail sketch of my favorite astronomer/scientist.  Now, you all know I really like Newton, Einstein, Galileo… the list goes on and on.  Still, my favorite scientist, the one I respect above and beyond all the others, is the one sitting at home (or work) reading this right now.  He’s tired.  He’s shouldering the responsibility of his family, and when he gets a few free moments he learns something new about the science he passionately loves.  He’s my hero.

The scientist I most admire and respect is you.