[Chaos-l] observing in Afghanistan

[walter fowler]

It almost got Galileo killed.  And something similar did get Giordano Bruno
killed.  Tolerance is a relatively new concept and recent events show that
it may still be fragile!  I'm all for outreach.  WF

On Wed, Jul 13, 2011 at 9:27 PM, Allen Davis <starstorm151 at embarqmail.com>wrote:

> Yes, that is pretty amazing.
>
> I know, as I am sure most of you do, about this confusion between astronomy
> and astrology.  I was at the Rocky Mount Library...which you think would
> emply relatively knowledgeable people in general.  It is actually a pretty
> nice library.  A friend of mine works there and she was introducing me to
> coworkers.  She told each one about my long involvement and interest in
> astronomy. When I was leaving, my friend asked one the the last  people I
> saw if she wouldn't be interested was interested in astronomy (she had
> already told her about this when I met her earlier).  The lady said,
> well.....not really.
>
> I went up to her and said, "You do realize that I don't read palms but I
> look through a telescope?"  Well, she looked embarrassed and said...."Oh
> Stars and planets, horoscopes."  I said....yes.....and I was glad I cleared
> that one up before I left!
>
> She looked at me like I had two heads.
>
> I find that astronomy is still an area where there really is great deal of
> not only confusion, but misinformation.  And sometimes complete ignorance.
> It is one reason I enjoy letting the public use telescopes at Medoc.
> Sharing this is important.
>
> We actually did have someone show up one time a long time ago at Medoc who
> thought we were actually doing a program on horoscopes and palm readings
> etc....after seeing the program advertised.
>
> So if it is that bad here, I can only imagine what it could be like in a
> very superstitious or mistrustful culture.
>
> But it is nice to read that someone is trying.  This can be a very unifying
> interest.  I can only imagine what it could be like wondering if just
> setting up a telescope would get you killed.  allen
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: chaos-l-bounces at rtpnet.org [mailto:chaos-l-bounces at rtpnet.org] On
> Behalf Of Michael Hrivnak
> Sent: Wednesday, July 13, 2011 7:00 PM
> To: chaos-l
> Subject: [Chaos-l] observing in Afghanistan
>
> This is an interesting article about amateur astronomers in
> Afghanistan.  In addition to dealing with light pollution and
> mosquitoes, they have to deal with Taliban and US forces possibly
> mistaking them for combatants.  Yikes!
>
>
> http://www.universetoday.com/87231/the-challenges-%E2%80%93-and-dangers-%E2%
> 80%93-of-amateur-astronomy-in-afghanistan/<http://www.universetoday.com/87231/the-challenges-%E2%80%93-and-dangers-%E2%80%93-of-amateur-astronomy-in-afghanistan/>
>
> Michael
> _______________________________________________
> Chaos-l mailing list
> Chaos-l at rtpnet.org
> http://rtpnet.org/mailman/listinfo/chaos-l
>
> _______________________________________________
> Chaos-l mailing list
> Chaos-l at rtpnet.org
> http://rtpnet.org/mailman/listinfo/chaos-l
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://rtpnet.org/pipermail/chaos-l/attachments/20110713/8f779c2d/attachment.html>