2018 Prom

Astro Field Trip

Haystack Observatory

42 WHS seniors + Mr. Froberg + myself visiting the famous radio telescope!

A play about astronomy, women, and the joy of discovery

Although nominally covering old ground for some of us (women in science not getting their due credit:  Silent Sky, COSMOS, Hidden Figures) as well as having a shaky start and being purposefully vague about its own timeline, I would up finding this new play at the Central Square Theater profoundly affecting:

Not only was its unpacking of the challenges (historical and contemporary) of being a female scientist surprisingly eloquent and personal, but I was blown away by its unabashed enthusiasm for the thrill of a scientific discovery.  The play literally showed Cecelia Payne sitting at a desk doing math and having a joyous epiphany as she became the first human being to know that the stars are mostly made of hydrogen. I mean this play had a scene about constructing a graph while showing the graph being constructed on the backdrop of the stage.  No idea how it struck the non science people in the audience, but I thought 'right on!' while I was sitting next to my twelve year old daughter who is (in the words of the play) standing on the shoulders of Payne, Leavitt, Canon, Fleming, Maury when she looks out at the stars and knows how far away they are and what they are made of.
Catch it if you can!