Robert Jastrow, one of the noted astronomers of our time and, as it happens, a former professor of mine at Dartmouth, died earlier this year. This is my overdue tribute to his life and work.
Jastrow was one of the great popularizers of science. One of his books, Red Giants and White Dwarfs, became a national bestseller and conveyed to a whole generation of Americans the excitment and mystery of space exploration. When American astronauts landed on the moon, Jastrow provided expert commentary for the TV networks covering the event.
But Jastrow never permitted popularization to get in the way of serious professional accomplishment. After getting his doctorate in physics from Columbia, he became head of the theoretical divison at NASA. Later he was appointed head of the Goddard Space Institute. In 1992 he became chairman of Mount Wilson Observatory in California.
In addition to medals for scientific achivement, Jastrow also won acclaim as a gifted teacher. At Dartmouth, I always found him friendly and accessible. Later our paths crossed because Jastrow became an energetic and resourceful defender of President Reagan's strategic missile defense initiative, dubbed by its critics as "Star Wars."
While critics like physicist Hans Bethe said Star Wars would never work, the Russians agreed with Jastrow that it would, and they desperately sought to outlaw it. (Obviously if the Russians felt it was a boondoggle they would have supported it, since this would be a great way to waste America's defense budget.) In his last years Jastrow became increasingly skeptical of claims that global warming is destroying the planet. He saw global warming as an effort to exploit science for ideological ends.
One of Jastrow's gems is a little book called God and the Astronomers in which Jastrow, although himself an agnostic, made a startling argument. He argued that "the astronomical evience leads to a biblical view of the origin of the world." Jastrow not only documents his claim but shows why leading scientists including Einstein resisted the new discoveries, because they threatened the dogma that scientific laws enjoy eternal validity. Jastrow showed that in reality the laws of physics themselves came into existence with the Big Bang; beyond or apart from our universe, there are no such laws.
Jastrow's story reads like a detective novel, with the only difference that the facts he recounts are true. And here is his stunning conclusion: "For the scientist who has lived by his faith in the power of reason, the story ends like a bad dream. He has scaled the mountains of ignorance; he is about to conquer the highest peak; as he pulls himself over the final rock, he is greeted by a band of theologians who have been sitting there for centuries."
Reader Comments ( Page 4 of 36)
46. I don't believe that Larry.
But why was the Jewish man executed? I meet Jewish men everyday, they are healthy, happy, and full of jokes.
I was told they had to buy a new box for men. That was a religious implication.
Nanotechnology at 10:38AM on Jul 1st 2008
47. Everyone is a CULT member if they live in a cult-ure. Which would mean you believe God is a scientist, who has no culture.
Take a picture, prove it.
Nanotechnology at 10:41AM on Jul 1st 2008
48. Never underestimate Douche D’lousa’s ability to exploit a revered friend s death to needle his ideological opponents.
What do thousands of scientists from fields as diverse as climatology, botany, oceanography, geology etc… hope to gain by convincing the rest of the world that global warming is real?
Why is it that in the news media outside of the US the global warming issue is not consistently characterized as a Conservative versus Liberal thing.
Why is it that, of the scientist who dispute global warming, the vast majority of them are employed or have interest in industries that contribute to global warning?
“For the scientist who has lived by his faith in the power of reason, the story ends like a bad dream. He has scaled the mountains of ignorance; he is about to conquer the highest peak; as he pulls himself over the final rock, he is greeted by a band of theologians who have been sitting there for centuries."
Who will continue to sit there for millennia as the scientists head out to the stars.
rabidmccain at 10:48AM on Jul 1st 2008
49. read "Ender's Game" by Orson Scott Card. The answer is there.
abbot at 10:49AM on Jul 1st 2008
50. Why was the Jewish man executed Nanotech? He was living in a country occupied by the Romans and was causing them problems. He was only one of thousands of Jews the Romans executed to keep order.
Larry at 10:53AM on Jul 1st 2008
51. A great piece on some "realitys" one face when they themselves face the final carnal door, death.
It DOSN'T take a scientist to see that this universe was created by a divine design. It's screams out from every star, every plant, every gorgous sunset that their is GOD and we are His creation.
Most sadly though, many commentors want to debase this on "old thought" or sanility on the behalf of Jastrow.
I pray he made his peace, Through Christ BEFORE he took his last breath.
One thing for certain, we ALL will face this creator one day. What will you do with your deniablity when you see him face to face?
Do as you do now? Close your eyes and say, "this can't be real, this cant be real!"
But then friends, it will be too late.
God is real despite the unbelief. Our Universe says so too!
David Groppi at 10:57AM on Jul 1st 2008
52. ASeaSerpent (Nanotechnology), is that you again? Why haven't you taken your pills today? Do they make you feel woozy?
Mokele Mbembe at 11:05AM on Jul 1st 2008
53. David Groppi -- Are you talking about God Davy or are you like DD a cult member talking about the dead Jewish guy?
Larry at 11:06AM on Jul 1st 2008
54. The closest the Bible came to being right-
"Let there be light." & "I am the Alpha and the Omega." YOU figure it out.
Who's to say the physical laws we observe didn't exist BEFORE this current iteration of the "Big Bang"?
Again, the scientists and the Christers are arguing about who knows EVERYTHING. Sort of. The generations-long experiment about to commence at CERN will attempt to try and find out something more. If for nothing else, to attempt to prove that the theories they proposed with way out-there mathematics have any physical evidence.
Imagine that day when the egg-heads looked up at the scribbling.
"But what you're saying is that for this to be right, there would need to be TEN dimensions!"
"Or eleven, we're not sure..."
"What do you mean, "...you're not sure."?
"Well, it's complicated."
No shit. Further more, who cares?
Point is, there IS no point. Whether one is right, or wrong, or both is the great mystery of what really IS. And arguing about it on this pathetic blog is just that.
Aloha!
Robert at 11:09AM on Jul 1st 2008
55. That 'Objective' site is still the funniest thing I have ever seen!
Can you guess what project won the Fellowship Baptist Creation Science Fair?
1st Place: "My Uncle Is A Man Named Steve (Not A Monkey)"
Cassidy Turnbull (grade 5) presented her uncle, Steve. She also showed photographs of monkeys and invited fairgoers to note the differences between her uncle and the monkeys. She tried to feed her uncle bananas, but he declined to eat them. Cassidy has conclusively shown that her uncle is no monkey.
It's SCIENCE!!!
Mokele Mbembe at 11:14AM on Jul 1st 2008
56. I prefer ASS, but thank you all for the answers.
Botanists found flowers that happened by happen stance. They discovered what fertilized them. They replicated the process as scientists. The process still continues, as with every science. No God. Just scientists.
Romans are decendents of the people who existed before the divine ones. The divine ones replaced them in Greece, the Romans were kicked out of their own country through a democracy which did not represent them. They became tyrannical, to get back what they believed was their heritage.
When the Jewish religion began, to get back what they thought was their heritage, there was war. The process still continues today, as it did with the flower. It will never end until people from each side accept the other. In which case, two animals will form, they will not be able to mate. One will have to kill the other.
This is what religion has given us, may we sit on a mountain until the two sides have killed each other, so that we may inherit the earth. We still need to eat, so I don't think their just sitting.
Thanks again, til next time, I'm actually going to read a book now.
Nanotechnology at 11:20AM on Jul 1st 2008
57. Nanotechnology,
ASS, I KNEW it was you! Why not use a familiar handle so we can all recognize you as a fellow blog veteran?
Mokele Mbembe at 11:23AM on Jul 1st 2008
58. Nano, nano-
From what I read on your blogs, THAT would be a first.
Robert at 11:24AM on Jul 1st 2008
59. "Fellowship is proud to be host to one of the largest Creation Science Fairs in the country, this year we had over 200 students present their projects. This is also the first year that Muslim students from the Al-Jannah Islamic school have been invited to participate; two of their students presented a project on human anatomy entitled "Allah (SWT) Created Me" which, while it was found ineligible for a prize due to a number of Biblical inconsistencies, did win a special Interfaith Outreach ribbon."
Mokele Mbembe at 11:26AM on Jul 1st 2008
60. P.S. to Moke
Familiar handle? There is a short story in each of my blogs related to each moniker. It's more interesting that way. Got to get to the library, bye.
Nanotechnology at 11:47AM on Jul 1st 2008