Blog #2: Bryson reading (chapter 2-3)

Quote: "Space, let me repeat is enonnous. T he average distance between stars
out there is 20 million million miles."

--> This quote stood out to me because I never really knew how far away the stars really were. Whenever I'm out at night, and stars are out, they always seem to be so close....but in reality, they're not. The quote just goeos to show that space truly is another large world, that's full of interesting things and information.

Question: How do researchers began to estimate how many stars are in the milky way? What specific tools and methods do they use to calculate and come up with such a large number?

--> For example, in the packet it said that estimates range from 100 billion or so to perhaps 400 billion. And even though this may be true, I know there are ways that they came up with that number, and I'm unclear how.

Comment: Overall, I enjoyed reading the packet. Similar to what I said in my response about the first chapter, I never really thought about the stars in the sky, and the world that exists beyond the clouds, besides heaven. I think that it's amazing how much time and effort astronomers and researchers spend to learn, observe, experience, and discover new thing. But hey, id someone is passionate about something, they will put the time and effort in to support and learn more about their passion.

Blog #1: Bryson reading (chapter 1)

Quote: "Welcome. And congratulations. I am delighted that you could make it. Getting here wasn't easy, I know."

---> The reason why this quote stood out to me, was because those are words that I would like to hear from colleges that I want to attend. Getting into college is a hard process, and I know that college admissions are aware of that. Another reason why I chose this a quote is because the author wasn't even referring to college when he wrote this, but I was able to still make the connection. It sort of illuminated more of the fact that you can actually apply amost every aspect of math, to aspects of the real world.

Question: How and when do you know if discoveries by researchers and scientistis the "actual" discovery? In other words, when a researcher or scientist finds a solution to something, how do you know if the solution is accurate enough to use in school lessons, such as math, and experiments?

--> For example, in the reading Penzias and Wilson were unsure about a hissing noise in one of their discoveries, and all of a sudden Dicke came up with an explanation about it. I mean, I know he probably had evidence, but I still wonder what process he used to come up with explanation.

Comment: I think that overall, the reading was good. I never knew that you could go into so much detail about an atom. I feel like when I'm just doing regular things in life, I never really take the time out to think about the math and science behind the make up of my body. However, after reading this article, I got a little bit motivated to want to have more of an open mind for the body.