Project Orion, the constellations, and respecting the dead
This is Jonathan Hare's account, with its provenance shown. The person or organization named has not yet claimed or corrected it.
Physicist; worked on Project Orion, the nuclear-pulse propulsion design documented by his son George. Father of Esther Dyson, through whom Jonathan Hare met him many times at PC Forum and Santa Fe Institute events.
He knew Hare's grandfather, in particular because of Orion.
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Hare mentioned that his Berkeley astronomy professor, an ultraviolet specialist, considered studying constellations a waste of time — astrology rather than astronomy. Dyson disagreed: astronomy emerged from the study of astrology and the stars, and one should respect one's elders, including the ones dead for millennia.
They were standing by a pool on a mountain outside Santa Fe. He showed Hare four constellations, just by looking up.
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