BA Bloggee Mikhail Bragoria sent me this picture he took of the BA Book sitting at the feet of a statue of Queen Victoria in Brisbane, Australia. As he points out, the statue was erected to commemorate the founding of the Torchwood Institute.
So, in this case, we are amused.
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Phil Plait, the creator of Bad Astronomy, is an astronomer, lecturer, and author. After ten years working on Hubble Space Telescope and six more working on astronomy education, he struck out on his own as a writer. He has written two books, dozens of magazine articles, and 12 bazillion blog articles. He is a skeptic, and fights misuses of science as well as praising the wonder of real science.
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"Reading this book is like getting punched in the face by Carl Sagan. Frightening, but oddly exhilarating."
-- Daniel H. Wilson, author of How to Survive a Robot Uprising
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March 18th, 2008 at 12:52 pm
Had I thought of it, I would have sat it inside the Vostok inside KSC Visitor’s Center last week when I was there.
March 18th, 2008 at 1:10 pm
We only have a few more chances to get the book up on STS. Anyone able to set up a lobby? Heck - it doesn’t even take lithium batteries. That would have been a way-more cool photo than that last one.
Seriously - if one of the Astronauts (John Grunsfeld) can call CarTalk from space, surely one of the crew can take the book up!
JC
March 18th, 2008 at 1:15 pm
There is only a short time left to get the book up on STS. Anyone able to or interested in lobying to that effect?
I mean comeon - if John Grunsfeld can call the CarTalk guys from “about 200 miles from Hawaii”, surely they could take up a copy of the book! It doesn’t even use Lithium batteries - and it would be a way more cool photo than that last one.
I hope this doesn’t post twice - I checked, and the previous try doesn’t seem to be here, but if it is here twice, I apologise after the fact.
JC
March 18th, 2008 at 1:15 pm
Oh drat - it did. Sigh.
March 18th, 2008 at 1:33 pm
Hi!
Your book also made a visit to several astronomy-related places in Jena (Germany). You can see the pictures here: http://www.astrodicticum-simplex.de/wordpress/2008/03/03/buchempfehlung-bad-astronomy/
(I also sent you an email, some months ago - but it probably landed in your spam-folder
)
best wishes,
florian
March 18th, 2008 at 3:39 pm
Did Victoria actually say “We are not amused” or is that just a myth like Holmes saying “Elementary, my dear Watson”?
March 18th, 2008 at 4:17 pm
Jack,
I’m not sure if they will be able to take the book up. They have pretty restricted weight limits and from what I understand every ounce counts. I guess someone could talk to one of the Astronauts and see if they would take it with their personal gear. I would imagine they are allowed to take up a certain amount of stuff like books and stuff.
March 18th, 2008 at 6:52 pm
This is totally off topic, but I finally came across an explanation of dark matter that even I can understand.
March 19th, 2008 at 3:24 am
Funny, I travel into Brisbane every day for university and I have no idea where that statue is! I might have to do some exploring after the Easter holidays.
I wonder if there are any Brisbanites around here who could get a picture of BA at the Sir Thomas Brisbane planetarium?
March 19th, 2008 at 6:05 pm
“We are amused” - two thoughts - you’ve developed multiple personality disorder, or you’ve been ready Rescue Party by Arthur C. Clarke.
jbs
March 19th, 2008 at 9:50 pm
@Chris Owen - The statue is in Queen’s Park, which is just across Elizabeth Street from the Treasury Casino.
I wish I had thought of doing this!
March 20th, 2008 at 5:11 am
KaiYves said:
“Did Victoria actually say “We are not amused” or is that just a myth like Holmes saying “Elementary, my dear Watson”?”
You are right to ask: it is, in fact, a myth. Apparently, Victoria Regina had a quite lively sense of humour. Source: QI.
Having said that, I could not find any references to back this up.
March 20th, 2008 at 6:38 am
@Michael
I have a tough time believing that the mass of the book would cause that much of an issue. I don’t recall the specifics, but have vague memories of far more massive objects being “smuggled aboard”, though I certainly understand the physics involved. That famous corned beef sandwich is probably the best-known example, and it probably massed about the same.
I just don’t think the few grams of the book would be recognised as an issue, and I DO believe that it would be very hard to beat that photo - with the possible exception of perhaps strapping it on the next probe to (trying hard to avoid the sophomoric references that present themselves!) the Kuiper belt, with a camera rigged to snap photos as it passed each major planetary (or minor) body along the way
JC