Joy of Discovery

Hi-De-Ho Rene,

I thought it was just a slow news week when I saw the Sunday Kansas City Star. A story about the Mars approach was on the front page, above the fold. Apparently, given what you write, Mars Mania is not a local phenomenon.

You know how much I dig astronomy. Descriptive Astronomy, a 300-level physics class, was my favorite college course, and I missed the dark Kansas skies so much while I lived on the east coast that tug of the stars played a small but integral role in my decision to return home.

Powell Observatory, built in Louisburg, Kansas, by the Astronomical Society of Kansas City, will begin having public viewings tomorrow night. I'll head down there one night this week and give you a report about the crowds and the view.

It was in Louisburg back in my reporting days that I encountered the most interesting astronomer I've ever met. David Levy, the amateur astronomer extraordinaire, author, and co-discoverer of the Jupiter-crashing comet Shoemaker-Levy 9, was not famous yet outside astronomy buff circles. His enthusiasm and resolve were fascinating, and it's not surprising that he became a media darling once those pieces of SL-9 slammed into Jupiter on live television.

It seems to me that science needs more David Levys -- ambassadors who can communicate the joy of discovery as a societal benefit. As a scientist yourself, do you agree?

Later,
Kari