{"id":66387,"date":"2018-10-17T12:56:03","date_gmt":"2018-10-17T18:56:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?p=66387"},"modified":"2018-10-17T13:00:00","modified_gmt":"2018-10-17T19:00:00","slug":"the-mountain-that-i-saw-every-day-and-took-for-granted","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/10\/the-mountain-that-i-saw-every-day-and-took-for-granted.html","title":{"rendered":"The mountain that I saw every day and took for granted"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Atop<\/a>
This dome atop Mount Wilson houses the telescope used by Edwin Hubble when he discovered the general expansion of the universe. \u00a0(NASA public domain photograph)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Growing up in San Gabriel, California, I saw Mount Wilson \u2014 a peak in the San Gabriel Mountains \u2014 on most days. \u00a0It was the dominant feature of the local horizon, as well as my reliable indicator of north. \u00a0Its most obvious and striking features were the television and radio antennas, but it was also easy (when we were in the right location and when the smog wasn\u2019t too bad!) to see at least some of its astronomical observatories.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Mount<\/a>
Along the ridge of Mount Wilson (Wikimedia Commons)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I simply didn\u2019t appreciate what I was looking at.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

To me, when I was quite small, Mount Wilson represented an occasional opportunity to escape classes and go on a school field trip. \u00a0Now I understand more fully what a remarkable place it was and is.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Einstein,<\/a>
Left to right: Albert Einstein, Edwin Hubble, Walther Mayer, Walter S. Adams, Arthur S. King, and William W. Campbell pose in front of the 100-inch telescope dome at Mount Wilson Observatory on 29 January 1931 (The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

***<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

News out of Provo:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBrigham Young University: A national center for UAV research:\u00a0BYU a major contributor to the \u2018drone revolution'\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

***<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Interesting:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cPompeii: Vesuvius eruption may have been later than thought\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

This is one thing in ancient history and archaeology that I think most people imagined we had nailed down, with no serious controversy or doubt about it. \u00a0It turns out that there has been dispute on the matter for some time, and this new discovery certainly feeds that.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

***<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s amazing to think what might lie, undiscovered, right under our feet:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cViking ship burial discovered in Norway just 50cm underground: Archaeologists detect 20-metre ship using motorised high-resolution ground-penetrating radar\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

And this find is so shallow, in such a well-worked, prosperous, and politically stable area. \u00a0Think about places that are far less well-explored.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

***<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Science is an extraordinarily productive collection of related methods to be applied, not a rigid dogma to be imposed and slavishly received:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cMany undergrad psych textbooks do a poor job of describing science and exploring psychology\u2019s place in\u00a0it\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

***<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

One of my recurrent themes here has been that, like every other academic or scholarly discipline and, for that matter, like every other human enterprise altogether, science is done by people. \u00a0A few folks have decided to view that as an attack on science itself, which it emphatically isn\u2019t. \u00a0(It plainly suits their ideological or personal agendas to do so.) \u00a0But, in any case, here\u2019s an essay that, despite some biases and some assumptions that I don\u2019t share, takes a position on the humanity of scientists that isn\u2019t altogether different from my own. \u00a0Minor alert: \u00a0At one or two points, including the title, Dr. Burnett\u2019s language is a bit colorful by Latter-day Saint sacrament meeting standards, which (of course) isn\u2019t especially difficult to achieve:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen Do Scientists Start Believing Their Own Bulls**t? \u00a0If prominent scientists are supposed to be superior intellects, why do they so often start spouting utter bilge, sometimes in self-destructive ways?<\/span>\u201c<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

***<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s yet another movie that I\u2019m going to have to see:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cDoing Right by Neil Armstrong:\u00a0The makers of\u00a0First Man<\/em>\u00a0took many great leaps to create an authentic portrait of the publicity-averse astronaut.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 Growing up in San Gabriel, California, I saw Mount Wilson \u2014 a peak in the San Gabriel Mountains \u2014 on most days. \u00a0It was the dominant feature of the local horizon, as well as my reliable indicator of north. \u00a0Its most obvious and striking features were the television and radio antennas, but it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-66387","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nThe mountain that I saw every day and took for granted<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"    Growing up in San Gabriel, California, I saw Mount Wilson -- a peak in the San Gabriel Mountains -- on most days. \u00a0It was the dominant\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, 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