From the Editor: The Starry Messenger, Vol. 1 issue 1

-- Fist Quarter, November 2003 --

FRONT PAGE

Volume 1, Issue 1

From the Editor

David Colarusso
So the inaugural issue of the Messenger finally made it to press, and I'd like to take this opportunity to say a little something about its origins. Astronomy 361 was created this year in an attempt to provide more choice in the senior year for the fourth year science requirement--something other than physics. Many of the students are taking this class in order to fulfill that requirement while others are simultaneously enrolled in honors physics. As you might imagine such a class is populated with a diverse set of students. When designing this class I wanted to be sure that astronomy didn't become the easy alternative to physics. This posed a challenge. I suspected that along with the class' diversity would come a number of different academic backgrounds and aptitudes. I decided that a class newsletter would be a good venue for students to engage with the material in a manner they don't usually experience in science class.

I borrowed the idea from a class at Cornell that all potential astronomy majors were expected to take--Astronomy 233: Topics in Astronomy and Astrophysics. Basically it was a writing class for astronomers. We wrote a number of short articles on current issues in astronomy and astrophysics, tailoring our writing for the general public. Astronomy occupies a peculiar place in today's funding environment. It is the oldest of all sciences and though one day necessary for the pursuit of agriculture, navigation, and time keeping it is hard pressed to find "practical" application in today's world. It is not a science with potentially big fanatical payoffs. Additionally, as we probe deeper into the mysteries of the cosmos the sophistication and cost of our tools increase. As such, today's astronomers need not only to be practitioners but spokespeople. They must explain complicated nuance problems to financers who often have no specialized background while also articulating the very real scientific need for such investigation. One of the best ways to make this job possible is to work for a general public conversant in the topics of modern astronomy. To that end the Messenger exist, not because I expect it to have world-wide readership, but because the best way to become informed on a topic is to set about explaining to someone else. Hopefully, that's what happens when these articles are written. Anywho, it's fun. I hope you enjoy the product, and here’s wishing you clear skys.


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