Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Latter-day Saint
The mountain that I saw every day and took for granted

The mountain that I saw every day and took for granted

Last updated on: October 17, 2018 at 1:00 pm by Dan Peterson

The mountain that I saw every day and took for granted 2018-10-17T13:00:00-06:00 Dan Peterson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

This dome atop Mount Wilson houses the telescope used by Edwin Hubble when he discovered the general expansion of the universe. (NASA public domain photograph)

Growing up in San Gabriel, California, I saw Mount Wilson — a peak in the San Gabriel Mountains — on most days. It was the dominant feature of the local horizon, as well as my reliable indicator of north. Its 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’t too bad!) to see at least some of its astronomical observatories.

Along the ridge of Mount Wilson (Wikimedia Commons)

I simply didn’t appreciate what I was looking at.

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

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)

***

News out of Provo:

“Brigham Young University: A national center for UAV research: BYU a major contributor to the ‘drone revolution'”

***

Interesting:

“Pompeii: Vesuvius eruption may have been later than thought”

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. It turns out that there has been dispute on the matter for some time, and this new discovery certainly feeds that.

***

It’s amazing to think what might lie, undiscovered, right under our feet:

“Viking ship burial discovered in Norway just 50cm underground: Archaeologists detect 20-metre ship using motorised high-resolution ground-penetrating radar”

And this find is so shallow, in such a well-worked, prosperous, and politically stable area. Think about places that are far less well-explored.

***

Science is an extraordinarily productive collection of related methods to be applied, not a rigid dogma to be imposed and slavishly received:

“Many undergrad psych textbooks do a poor job of describing science and exploring psychology’s place in it”

***

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. A few folks have decided to view that as an attack on science itself, which it emphatically isn’t. (It plainly suits their ideological or personal agendas to do so.) But, in any case, here’s an essay that, despite some biases and some assumptions that I don’t share, takes a position on the humanity of scientists that isn’t altogether different from my own. Minor alert: At one or two points, including the title, Dr. Burnett’s language is a bit colorful by Latter-day Saint sacrament meeting standards, which (of course) isn’t especially difficult to achieve:

“When Do Scientists Start Believing Their Own Bulls**t? If prominent scientists are supposed to be superior intellects, why do they so often start spouting utter bilge, sometimes in self-destructive ways?“

***

Here’s yet another movie that I’m going to have to see:

“Doing Right by Neil Armstrong: The makers of First Man took many great leaps to create an authentic portrait of the publicity-averse astronaut.”

Uncategorized

Previous Post

October 17, 2018

A breathtaking vision for humankind

Next Post

October 17, 2018 A bit more information on some upcoming public firesides and lectures

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 March 2014 August 2013 February 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What did the biblical measurement of a cubit represent?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Length of forearm Length of foot Length of leg Length of hand