Jim Valentine

Nuclear Astrophysics!

I cannot express fully in words the feeling of passion and pride in the acknowledgment that the universe is art. While the argument about whether the universe was divinely created or just happened will likely be going on for a long time, don't let it detract from the knowledge of what is fact, the universe is beautiful. I say this now because what I am about to say is more profound than anything you're ever going to hear and if you understand it, then it will bring you even more pleasure. Some people like to look up into the sky and watch the stars, planets, and our moon traverse the endless background of space. That alone is art and to some, is enough. Yet others, like myself, seek out more information. I wasn't only enpassioned by watching the sky, but I was driven to know more about what it is made of. What are the other planets made of, how did they get there, what will happen to our sun in 10 billion years, why is that star blue while this one is red, what is a black hole, what is a nebula, and what are galaxies ... all these are questions that I felt driven to try to find out the answers to. When you're driven to learn it doesn't take long to realize the simple beauty at the bottom of these very complex and very large objects. Atoms - We cannot learn what is going on outside of our own planet without first understanding the most fundamental pieces of the universe, the atoms. Atoms are the fundamental building blocks of everything and they are unimaginably small and complex. That is what I find to be the most beautiful and poetic thing about the universe. That the unimaginably huge objects of the universe are driven by the nature of the unimaginably small. It is wonderous and awe-inspiring!