I just read “The life of Galileo”, by Bertolt Brecht.
Brecht, a man of his time, was worried about the ethics of the
scientific work. My personal opinion is that it is not science itself
that has to be under scrutiny, but its uses. Science has improved our
lives in general, when used properly. And knowledge is a treasure for
us all. Only us can save us from ourselves, and knowledge is the way
to go.
A
sentence was highlighted by somebody else in the version I have been
reading: “Unhappy the land that has no heroes!”. Galileo´s
recantation has been cried. However, I would stick to another one, by
Galileo later on in the play, which is not highlighted: “Unhappy
the land where heroes are needed”.
1616:
The Copernican theory is censored by the church.
But, 400 years later,
we “hear” the music of the Universe. When Galileo oriented the
newly invented telescope to Jupiter, he started a journey, the
scientific journey, that led us up to the historical moment we are
living now. Much has been said and explained everywhere about
gravitational waves. I am only echoing what has been on the news
since last February 11th 2016. As all good music, the
timing is perfect: 100 years after they were predicted by Einstein,
another science´s giant. And, of course, everybody in the planet can
have a ringtone with the “music” of two black holes dancing in
space.
Since Galileo,
astronomers started to see a silent movie, in black and white. Then
there came the colours, with all sorts of wavelengths in the
electromagnetic spectrum. Now, we can hear the sound, the soundtrack
of the Universe. And now, all humanity can participate in the
celebration of this gigantic step towards our understanding of the
Universe.
We are happy, and we
have our heroes.
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