Guest blog by Laura J. Graham

I have heard of an ancient blessing that says, “May you not live in interesting times”. I think this means may you come in every night and sit by the fire with the cat on your lap, and not have to worry about wars, or famine, or pestilence.

However, I believe we live in very interesting times, from a scientific viewpoint. One example is that at this point in time of the unfolding of the universe, the sun is exactly 400 times further away from us than the moon, and its disc is 400 times larger, so we can see total solar eclipses. Because of this we can learn much about the sun that its brightness at normal times would make impossible to see.  

Another example is Polaris, in our northern hemisphere. This star appears to us, less than one degree off the north celestial pole, so that it is always marking due north. Undoubtedly, this aided early ocean explorers, and is a coincidence that adds to our experience of exploring the night sky.

And we would not be able to see to explore the universe, or plan to go there, if our solar system was in the middle of an obscuring cosmic cloud. We would never know how it felt to see the recent visitor to our solar system, not of our planets’ plane, that came in from another system, that we named Oumuamua.

And who among us, children especially, haven’t longed to see those amazing giant dinosaurs munching leaves in an ancient swamp. And yet, very specially for us, we live at the time of the largest animal that has ever lived, in all the history of the Earth, the Blue Whale.

Let’s not forget the medical advancements that have so improved our lives in the last century or two, that we are able to benefit from, at this time. There are the vaccines, the antibiotics, and reconstructive surgery, among many other accomplishments.

This reminds me of a physician cousin, reading our great grandfather’s medical books from Civil War times, who said, most of it was on the wrong track when compared to modern medicine, but every now and then some of the writers “had a glimmer.” As fast as science is evolving, I make bold to say, that one or two centuries from now, someone will read this cousin’s medical papers, and say, “He had a glimmer”.