Speaking at Loyola University last month, Brother Guy Consolmagno, S.J., recently named the director of the Vatican Observatory, was enthused. He was lauding the work of 19th-century Jesuit astronomer Angelo Secchi, particularly the cleric’s contributions to spectroscopy.
“He’s the guy who first asks not ‘Where are the planets and how do they move?’ but ‘What are the planets?’” To which Consolmagno, an avowed sci-fi fan, added, “He’s dear to me because that’s the first question you have to ask before you can turn a planet from a dot of light in the sky to a place—a place where people can have adventures.”
Read Full Article »