Astronomical imprints: forensics of the sun
From A.R.T. Jonkers, Earth's Magnetism in the Age of Sail:
"In 1904 a young American named Andrew Ellicott Douglass started to collect tree specimens. He was not seeking a pastime to fill his hours of leisure; his motivation was purely professional."
[Image: David Maisel, from Timber: Clearcutting and the Undoing of the Western Forest].
"Yet he was not employed by any forestry department or timber company, and he was neither a gardener not a botanist. For decades he continued to amass chunks of wood, all because of a lingering suspicion that a tree's bark was shielding more than sap and cellulose. He was not interested in termites, or fungal parasites, or extracting new medicine from plants."
[Image: Bjørn Sterri, untitled; Oslo, 1997].
"Douglass was an astronomer, and he was searching for evidence of sunspots."
[Image: Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy].
Stars leave their imprints everywhere; even "getting a tan" is actually an interaction with astronomy played out on the level of skin. You are absorbing extraterrestrial energy into your body with every second you stand in sunlight. If you want news of the universe, in other words, simply look at the people around you: stars leave scars on bodies.
"In 1904 a young American named Andrew Ellicott Douglass started to collect tree specimens. He was not seeking a pastime to fill his hours of leisure; his motivation was purely professional."
[Image: David Maisel, from Timber: Clearcutting and the Undoing of the Western Forest].
"Yet he was not employed by any forestry department or timber company, and he was neither a gardener not a botanist. For decades he continued to amass chunks of wood, all because of a lingering suspicion that a tree's bark was shielding more than sap and cellulose. He was not interested in termites, or fungal parasites, or extracting new medicine from plants."
[Image: Bjørn Sterri, untitled; Oslo, 1997].
"Douglass was an astronomer, and he was searching for evidence of sunspots."
[Image: Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy].
Stars leave their imprints everywhere; even "getting a tan" is actually an interaction with astronomy played out on the level of skin. You are absorbing extraterrestrial energy into your body with every second you stand in sunlight. If you want news of the universe, in other words, simply look at the people around you: stars leave scars on bodies.
For posts older than a few days,
comments have to be moderated;
this takes a few hours. Thanks!
html is both okay and encouraged.
2 Comments:
So THAT's where this mole came from...
The presence of astronomy.
Post a Comment