February 20, 2012
Photo: azpm
Co-founder of the Planetary Science Institute, William K. Hartmann, discusses the 50th anniversary of John Glenn's orbit of earth.
It's been 50 years since astronaut John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth and local resident Bill Hartmann remembers this date fondly.
Hartmann is a planetary scientist, writer and artist who is co-founder of the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson.
He remembers Feb. 20, 1962 when Glenn made history. Hartmann and other colleagues at the University of Arizona were paying close attention to the developments.
"We were just freshly arrived graduate students and we were all very excited about each new launch that would come along," Hartmann says.
Hartmann is a prolific astronomer, author and artist who hopes that new generations continue to be inspired by this nation's accomplishments and the work of scientists who are responsible for breaking barriers and making new discoveries.
"I think it's still a goal that for humanity in general, maybe combinations of countries working together, to establish a human capability that actually operate in the inner-solar system and visit other bodies and asteroids," he says.
The following comment was forwarded from Chuck Wood (Part 1 of 2): The word “theory” is used very differently by scientists than by the public at large. For the public “theory” means an idea, almost any idea, hair-brained or brilliant. In science “theory”is a conclusion based on a very well tested and verified set of observations, calculations and knowledge. We speak of the theory of gravity, for example.
The following comment was forwarded from Chuck Wood (Part 2 of 2): One of the great triumphs of the human intellect is that so much understanding of nature has been achieved in the last 400 years. One of the great failings is that the public often still harbors understandings that date from the Roman and medieval periods of history. We have learned a lot since then, but scientists and educators have not explained carefully enough to the public that a scientific theory is a very robust understanding of how nature works.
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Dr. Hartman made a comment that science did not have the credibility that it used to have. Science has become dishonest when it fails to state that many things are still theories or fails to give reasons for statements. Many things are taught as facts today without proof.