by Edward Herrick-Gleason
This article is equipped with both a long and short version, the latter of which should appeal to those who find these columns to be horrid verbiage torrents. The long version is, appropriately enough, the entire article. The short version is merely the article’s final two sentences.
The article itself pertains to what must be one of the most common questions posed to planetarium astronomers: “How can I get my child interested in astronomy?”
We cannot answer for your child, whose intelligence and talent are unique. What we can do it tell the story of an unnamed planetarium astronomer whom we’ll call Xavier, because I’ve always wanted that name.
One brilliant autumn evening, Xavier brought his five-year-old son out back to admire the night sky. Elated at being allowed out at night, said son bolted to all four fenced-in corners, fetching out nymphs and nasties alike from this unexplored wonder realm. Xavier chased him in earnest, determined to enrich his brain with well-rehearsed speeches about Pegasus, worlds spinning in a void, distant stars, and how fantastic it all is.
After his son eluded his fifth capture attempt, Xavier stood still and, in the tradition of all insufferable pedants, spouted his knowledge so as to cover a wide sphere stuffed with rapt listeners. Of course, while his son played in moon shadows, Xavier found himself only with an audience of crickets, some of whom no doubt lapsed into a grateful sleep. After finally abandoning the effort as hopeless, Xavier embarrassed himself with a game of tag. Once, during a respite to allow Xavier time with an oxygen tank, the son looked up and asked, “Does anybody live on the Moon?”
“Yes. The Moon in the place where the monsters under your bed come from.”
“Neat.”
The son and father then forgot all about the sky above and focused on the moonlit world below. The father learned much more from this excursion than his son did that night. He discovered that, for a child, a cosmos of play and mystery is as powerful as an adult’s universe of inquiry. Sometimes, the wondering child grows into a scrutinizing scientist. Sometimes not. Xavier realized that a person has, thankfully, only a limited influence on another person’s universe.
This brings us neatly to the article’s entire point: How can you get your children interested in astronomy? Let them play under the stars.
Leave a Reply