Science: My Missing Link To Happiness
Scientists found the 47 million-year-old fossilized remains of a creature about the size of a small cat. The young female specimen, known as Ida, will be featured in a television special called "The Link" on the History Channel. (AP Photo / May 19, 2009)
Happy diversions are more important than ever in these worrisome times. We all need our little mental getaways, whether it’s watching a mindlessly fun television show, working in the yard, or taking a yoga class. For me, today’s big announcement of a 47-million year-old fossil that could be the storied missing link between man and ape serves as a reminder of what I love to zone out on: science. That’s right. I am a man of science.
That would certainly come as a big surprise to my high school chemistry and physics teachers, who justifiably rewarded my efforts in their classes with a D and an F, respectively. Looking back, I honestly cannot remember a single concept in either class that I remotely understood. I was a total science/math doofus. When I went to college, I took the bare required minimum of science classes: three semesters of geology, fondly referred to at my temple of higher learning as “rocks for jocks.”
But years later, my relationship with science underwent a miraculous transformation. Like many others, I gave a try to Stephen Hawking’s “A Brief History of Time.” It became renowned as a book everyone bought but no one read. But for once, I actually finished the assignment and found the book fascinating. From there, I started checking out other books from the library: “The Dancing Wu-Li Masters,” biographies of Einstein and Edwin Hubble, anything about cosmology and quantum mechanics that my (still) math-challenged brain could even partially soak up. I began trolling cable channels, watching and recording any documentary I could find about archaeology, the planets and stars, volcanoes, relativity, evolution, and—my personal favorite—Stonehenge. I love Stonehenge. If you could earn a doctorate from watching documentaries and reading books about Stonehenge, you would be addressing me right now as Dr. Watkins, Ph.D. (You have to admit…it has a nice ring to it.) There’s just something about a five-thousand year old circle of giant monolithic stones that really gets my blood pumping.
So did today’s story about Ida. That’s what scientists named the fossil unveiled today at the American Museum of Natural History. Found in Germany more than a quarter-century ago, it’s one of the earliest and most perfectly preserved primate fossils ever discovered, what one researcher called a “rosetta stone” for understanding man’s evolution. It’s all just so cool, I can barely contain myself. I guess that’s why learning about science discoveries like this is MY happy diversion. I don’t have the background or education to really understand more than just a small portion of the science involved, but the possibility of unwrapping some of the mystery and enhancing my own knowledge is really thrilling, and it draws me in deeper. I have discovered my inner nerd, and when I’m in that place, I escape from the worries about the economy and the mortgage and the kids and all the other stuff that’s part of my daily life.
I know I’m not alone in this. When the fossil story came on the network news tonight, everybody in the newsroom stopped what they were doing to watch it. Give it a try, yourself; next time you get anxious about your 401K, just think instead about how the universe is expanding at an accelerating rate, or how a single light year is six-trillion miles, or how people who hadn’t even discovered the wheel yet managed to transport dozens of 40-ton stones more than a hundred miles to build Stonehenge. Tell me if it calmed you down, next time we see each other around the campus.
Comments: 9
I LOVED this story and got so excited on hearing about it! And I totally agree with the newfound "inner nerd." I read the Steven Hawkings book and at the time found it to be spiritual, and have watched documentaries on Einstein. I also failed physics in college, so I've wondered about this renewed interest myself -- I'm definitely NOT strong in math.
There is so much bad news that it is enriching for me to learn new things that make me realize how small I am in the scheme of things, i.e. the universe. I find it spiritually enriching.
I am a creationist, I don't believe in evolution, or the "missing link", or the "million of years ago".
wow... the creationist and groupy contributed a lot to this topic!
I heard from my teacher in the 4th grade that after the meteor hit the earth, and killed all the dinosaurs. The only things that survived were the animals that live and borrow underground. I also got this piece from my bio class professor that said, "humans evolved from warm blooded mammals such as rats." He also explained, we have lots in common with rats on the genetic and anatomic level. like for example: rats have 5 figures and toes on each hands and feet. That's one of the reasons why rats are used for drug testing first. We too have something in common with the rat; our tail's, or tail bone rather!
I asked my teacher in bio class that same lecture; "Did the rats evolve into monkeys?" he said "yes!" Now, that i seen this new report tonight; all the bits and pieces i learned in school finally came together like, pieces to a puzzle! Interesting!!!
oh and by the way, this is more of an evolution to primates before primate became humans, so what I'm saying is: rat>"monkey-rat">primate>humans!
If you're interested in rocks and plate tectonics, pick up a copy of "Annals of the Former World," by John McPhee. One of my favorite books, and it won a Pulitzer. Most of the chapters were first published in the mid 80's in The New Yorker.
This story is obviously excellent news. I have a neverending thirst for Science, Math and Technology, and the new discoveries they bring. I will definitely continue my lifelong interests in these subjects.
Science is the only tool we have available to come to grips with all the questions we have. I know that it's slow but it's ever chipping away at the myteries of not only the macro(universe) but also the micro (atoms and particles), and of course, of who we are and how we are to live together in this planet. Science has always provided me with amusement. But, hold on, we are only beginning to start to figure out about our evolution, so it's not recommended to speculate if we evolve from whatnot animal in particular. We need evidence, and, willy-nilly, we got to wait for many studies and diggings to look for it. For if we don't do that, we fall in the trap of creationists, that's, discussing without reason and evidence.
But great that we see that with every passing day more people like to be enlightened. That's comforting.
Science is the only tool we have to come to grips with all the questions we have. History of the last hundred years eloquently has shown it. Now, regarding to the evolution of man we must be cautious in saying that we specifically evolve from a particular type of mammal in the first place, for we are only beginning to dig into this. We first need evidence lest we don't fall into the same trap the creationists do, that is, talking without reason and evidence. Science is slow, but it's ever chipping away at the mysteries of the macro-, micro-, and of ourselves.
It's comforting that with each passing day more people want to be enlightened.
Jim, I think you left blow dryer running too long tonight -- you have fried your brain! Confessing that you got a "D" and an "F" in easy high school science classes is a good start in alerting your viewers that you are simply not that smart; you are not a real journalist.
You just read what someone else wrote for you off a teleprompter, then you pick up your million dollar anchor checks, and then you have your driver take you back out to your mansion in the suburbs. Does it make you feel guilty that you consume so much of the world's resources but contribute nothing of value?