The Marginalian
The Marginalian

Reads tagged with “astronomy”

A Brave and Startling Truth: Maya Angelou’s Stunning Humanist Poem That Flew to Space, Inspired by Carl Sagan
A Brave and Startling Truth: Maya Angelou’s Stunning Humanist Poem That Flew to Space, Inspired by Carl Sagan

“Out of such chaos, of such contradiction / We learn that we are neither devils nor divines…”

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What to Look for During a Total Solar Eclipse: Mabel Loomis Todd’s Poetic 19th-Century Guide to Totality, with Help from Emily Dickinson
What to Look for During a Total Solar Eclipse: Mabel Loomis Todd’s Poetic 19th-Century Guide to Totality, with Help from Emily Dickinson

“A vast, palpable presence seems overwhelming the world. The blue sky changes to gray or dull purple, speedily becoming more dusky, and a death-like trance seizes upon everything earthly.”

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Advice to the Young from Pioneering Astrophysicist Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, Who Discovered the Composition of the Universe
Advice to the Young from Pioneering Astrophysicist Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, Who Discovered the Composition of the Universe

Work with love, embrace the unexpected, let no one else make intellectual decisions for you, and always remain in direct touch with the fountain-head.

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Trailblazing Astronomer Maria Mitchell on Science, Spirituality, and the Conquest of Truth
Trailblazing Astronomer Maria Mitchell on Science, Spirituality, and the Conquest of Truth

“Every formula which expresses a law of nature is a hymn of praise to God.”

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The Universe in Verse: Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith Reads from “Life on Mars”
The Universe in Verse: Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith Reads from “Life on Mars”

An ode to the human zest for “bowing before the oracle-eye, hungry for what it would find.”

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The Habits of Light: A Celebration of Pioneering Astronomer Henrietta Leavitt, Whose Calculations Proved That the Universe Is Expanding
The Habits of Light: A Celebration of Pioneering Astronomer Henrietta Leavitt, Whose Calculations Proved That the Universe Is Expanding

“The universe is made of distance and of dust.”

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Into the Chute of Time: Annie Dillard on the Stunning Otherworldliness of a Total Solar Eclipse
Into the Chute of Time: Annie Dillard on the Stunning Otherworldliness of a Total Solar Eclipse

“What you see in a total eclipse is entirely different from what you know.”

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The World’s First Celestial Spectator Sport: Astronomer Maria Mitchell’s Stunning Account of the 1869 Total Solar Eclipse
The World’s First Celestial Spectator Sport: Astronomer Maria Mitchell’s Stunning Account of the 1869 Total Solar Eclipse

“All nature rejoiced, and … we rejoiced with Nature.”

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The Universe in Verse 2017: Full Show
The Universe in Verse 2017: Full Show

An evening of poetry celebrating great scientists and scientific discoveries, read by beloved artists, writers, and musicians.

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Stitching a Supernova: A Needlepoint Celebration of Science by Pioneering Astronomer Cecilia Payne
Stitching a Supernova: A Needlepoint Celebration of Science by Pioneering Astronomer Cecilia Payne

“These moments are rare, and they come without warning… They are the ineffable reward of him who scans the face of Nature.”

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