My son and I read to one another. I am reading the third Percy Jackson book, continuing a theme revolving around Greek Mythology, which I believed would be a great thing to expose him to, as well as entertaining. Indeed, he seems to love it, and hopefully, these things will resonate with him for many years, even well into adulthood.
As for what he is reading to me, there have been a few things. There was a book about insects that he finished reading to me a while back. He has read to me (and vice versa) about rocks, particularly about volcanoes and such, which is a subject that I always found particularly fascinating.
More recently, he began a Star Wars book that his mother obtained for him, and which is at a higher reading level than the others. He struggles with some words but, for the most part, he seems to be handling it quite well.
I had him start on that book, despite not having finished one of the other books that he was reading to me on the planets, although we are nearing completion of that book. We are on Neptune now, officially the last of the planets, although there is a bit on dwarf planets and such.
He is interested in this stuff (at least for now), and so I am trying to foster that interest by being active in it. That means trying to read about it, like with that book. But it also means going outside at night and gazing up at the stars. Recently, I found our old binoculars, something that I had not seen in decades rather than years. Also, we are trying to get a telescope, to really be able to view some impressive things to see in space at night.
Rereading some of this material was not only interesting and fun to do together, but got me acclimated once more with space, particularly with our solar system. These are things that I have not really read all that much about since my own school days, so it is fascinating to relearn, as well as obviously learn knowledge obtained since those days long ago. After all, numerous satellites have now reached some of those more distant planets, and given us more accurate information than people my age were privy to during our school days.
There are other things that we were wrong about back in my school days, and certain myths regarding space that seem to linger even to today. Certain things we probably have all recognized or heard at some point, such as that there is a dark side of the moon, or that the Great Wall of China is the only man-made object visible from space. Hell, we even get the color of the Sun wrong!
So, it seemed fitting to go ahead and publish this blog entry, which includes a link about important myths regarding space that should already be dispelled. Let us get out of the darkness of ignorance about space, and approach it with a new light of knowledge - including about funding for NASA, which is not as heavy and burdensome as many people seem to think it is.
I mention NASA because it is mentioned here in this link, and it is also featured prominently in a Dan Brown book that I read a few years ago. It seems a shame that many Americans now hold NASA in some measure of contempt, believing it to be yet another bureaucratic government agency with a bloated budget that cannot be justified.
Nothing could be further from the truth. It is not a huge percentage of the budget sucking our hard-earned dollars into a figurative black hole or abyss like, say, the defense budget. It is also pointed out that many people seem to be losing interest in space, which is really tragic, since this is, as Star Trek taught us, truly the final frontier. This is where we really still need to catch up in terms of knowledge.
The United States thrived in the space race against the Soviet Union, even under challenging circumstances. Now, however, the accomplishments are more limited, and do not ignite the public imagination the way that it used to. So, while other countries are catching up to what the U. S. once did, this country has begun to slip a bit, and that is truly a shame. In my opinion,. the quest for knowledge should not be relegated to the dusty shelves of partisan debates about government inefficiency and mudslinging about wasteful spending. The source of wasteful government spending is so obvious (at least to me) that it bears repeating, just in case people still do not get the message, despite seeing the numbers year after year after year. Yes, the military budget is what we spend more money on than anything else, and by far, at that! It's not even close!
Let us hope that this age of extreme (frankly, excessive) cynicism does not rid us of some truly valuable services that certain government programs can provide, among them, certainly, NASA. The dreams of exploring space used to unite the country during some of the greatest days that the country has ever seen. The words of a young leader stirred in us, collectively, the desire to develop the technology and to take risks in order to extend ourselves and go where no human had ever been before. Now, it is like everything else - interest waning while NASA itself is a source of constant berating, subject to our collective cynicism.
Would it not be nice if it brought us together as a people once again? If it gave us a sense of purpose, of direction, a clear mission that we sought to achieve together, to overcome all of the incredible obstacles, in order to keep achieving, and keep at least one American dream alive? Or will we truly allow this, like so many other aspects of the country that used to be great, become subject to disrepair, as it becomes yet another polarizing thing on the decline?
Here is the link:
10 Space Myths We Need to Stop Believing August 30, 2014 | by Radu Alexander
http://www.iflscience.com/10-space-myths-we-need-stop-believing
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