Kate has posted a report on Boskone talk by Brother Guy Consolmagno, on hunting for meteorites in Antarctica. Guy is a Jesuit brother, and also a research astronomer for the Vatican, and a better example of the peaceful coexistence of science and religion would be hard to find.
He's also a very entertaining speaker. I forget what I was doing that kept me from seeing this talk, but I was on a panel with him later, and he's a charming fellow. If I'd known he was spending the year on sabbatical in New York, I would've tried to get him booked into our colloquium schedule...
Anyway, the talk was a little light on the science, but had lots of amusing stuff about living and working in Antarctica, and Kate's got detailed notes.
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Some time back, I saw Brother Guy Consolmagno talk at Boskone, and said "You know, I should invite him to campus." For those who don't recognize the name, he's an SF fan and an astronomer (well, planetary scientist) who also happens to be a Jesuit brother. He works at the Vatican Observatory, where…
Kate and I will be attending Boskone agains next week, and the preliminary program has been posted. Kate's posted her thoughts on what looks interesting, and mine are below the fold:
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Via Kieran Healy an example of the happy coexistence of science and religion: The Vatican Observatory. I particularly like Kieran's comment regarding the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope:
I think that's just fantastic--like something out of Phillip Pullman. Is it too much to hope for the…
The following will be of interest only to people who were at Boskone, or who for some reason care deeply about what I did there, so I'll put the bulk of the text below the fold.
We arrived at about 3:00 Friday afternoon, parked in the hotel garage, and discovered that the trunk of my car would no…
I'm a big fan of Brother Guy Consolmagno, fortunate to have seen him speak in his capacity as incoming head of the American Astronomical Society, and to have had conversations f2f and email with him. He's one of those amazing people, with a tremendous amount of things worth saying, and which he says very well, for whom I say: "If he is scheduled to give a talk anywhere within driving distance of you, for Heaven's sake drive there and observe him!"
I believe that he's Curator of the Vatican Meteorite Collection, among many other duties.
The video of Bro. Guy's Boskone presentation is now on-line. Real Player and a broadband connection is needed to view.
Show #22 January 08 http://bostonfandom.org