ASTRONOMER HALE PANS SUPERSTITION.Byline: Malcolm W. Browne The New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Times Alan Hale, a co-discoverer of the Hale-Bopp comet, has denounced prevailing American attitudes toward science and says that unless drastic changes are made, he would not recommend that young people seek careers in science. In an electronic letter that he sent to hundreds of recipients last week, Hale deplored the limited career options he believes are open to scientists like himself, and said that widespread superstitious beliefs spawned by ``scientific illiteracy'' were among the main causes of a perceived malaise in science. On July 23, 1995, Hale, now 39, of Cloudcroft, N.M., and Thomas Bopp Thomas Bopp (born 1949) is a manager at a construction materials factory and an amateur astronomer. He is best known as co-discoverer of Comet Hale-Bopp in 1995. It was the first comet he observed. Comets are traditionally seen as a bad omen. , an amateur astronomer of Glendale, Ariz., independently discovered the spectacular comet that bears their names. Since then, the comet, celebrated not only by astronomers and casual stargazers but also by cultists, including members of the suicidal Heaven's Gate Heaven's Gate U.S. religious group that committed mass suicide in 1997 and that had been founded on a belief in unidentified flying objects. Established by Marshall H. group, has brought fame to the discoverers. Hale, who was awarded a Ph.D. in astronomy by New Mexico State University New Mexico State University, at Las Cruces; land-grant and state supported; coeducational; chartered and opened 1889 as a college. It became New Mexico State Univ. of Engineering, Agriculture, and Science in 1958 and adopted its present name in 1960. in 1992, said in an interview Tuesday that since receiving his degree he has held positions in astronomy or teaching that pay too little to support himself, his wife and two children. His wife, a registered nurse, provides most of the family income, he said. Hale is the founder and director of the Southwest Institute for Space Research, a nonprofit organization Nonprofit Organization An association that is given tax-free status. Donations to a non-profit organization are often tax deductible as well. Notes: Examples of non-profit organizations are charities, hospitals and schools. devoted primarily to public education in astronomy. ``Due to my current 15 minutes of fame resulting from the discovery of Comet Hale-Bopp Comet Hale-Bopp (formally designated C/1995 O1) was probably the most widely observed comet of the twentieth century, and one of the brightest seen for many decades. ,'' he said, ``I believe I have an opportunity to raise some awareness of this issue, and possibly to get things turned around a little bit.'' In his electronic letter, Hale wrote that ``unless there are some pretty drastic changes in the way our society approaches science and treats those of us who have devoted our lives to making some of our own contributions, there is no way that I can, with a clear conscience, encourage present-day students to pursue a career in science.'' Many astronomers agree with Hale's gloomy assessment of career possibilities. At a meeting last year of prospective scientists, Stephen P. Maran, spokesman for the American Astronomical Society The American Astronomical Society (AAS, sometimes pronounced "double-A-S") is a US society of professional astronomers and other interested individuals, headquartered in Washington, DC. , enumerated This term is often used in law as equivalent to mentioned specifically, designated, or expressly named or granted; as in speaking of enumerated governmental powers, items of property, or articles in a tariff schedule. some of the new techniques and instruments that will serve astronomers in the coming century, but he warned, ``There are no jobs out there.'' Hale said he worried especially about antiscientific attitudes based on belief rather than reason. He said a recent newspaper poll of New Mexico residents disclosed that 73 percent of the respondents believed in the creationist doctrine of life, rather than in Darwinian evolutionary principles of natural selection. To his surprise, Hale said, he received hundreds of ``vicious hate letters'' after he publicly scoffed at the belief by superstitious sky-watchers that a bright star visible near the Hale-Bopp comet was a ``companion'' carrying extraterrestrial visitors to the solar system. The Hale-Bopp comet, formally designated Comet C/1995 01, is only the second best comet he has seen, Hale said. The best, in his view, was Comet West in 1976, discovered by Dr. Richard M. West, who is now the spokesman for the European Southern Observatory European Southern Observatory (ESO), an intergovernmental organization for astronomical research with headquarters in Garching, near Munich, Germany. The ESO began in 1962 as a consortium among Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden. . ``But Hale-Bopp is magnificent, isn't it?'' he said. |
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