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My father and the mystery of how stars shine - Safi Bahcall
Summary
This article tells the story of Safi Bahcall's father, John Bahcall, and his role in discovering the answer to the mystery of how stars shine. The article traces the history of our understanding of the cosmos from the time of the Norse, Aztec, and Roman civilizations to the 1600s, when scientists began to develop laws of nature. It describes how in 1938, Hans Bethe proposed the idea that nuclear fusion reactions could power the sun for billions of years and in 1964, John Bahcall proposed a new way to test Bethe's ideas. It also recounts how my father and Richard Feynman had a pivotal conversation that kept my father from giving up on his work. Finally, it describes how the solar neutrino mystery was eventually solved in 2001 with the discovery that neutrinos have mass and how the work was recognized with four Nobel Prizes. The article ends with the moral of the story: don't give up, because you may have just discovered something important.
Q&As
What is the Dies Natalis Solis Invicti festival?
The Dies Natalis Solis Invicti festival is a Roman festival that celebrates the rebirth of the sun god every year.
What did Hans Bethe propose to power the sun?
Hans Bethe proposed that a nuclear fusion reaction, in which four hydrogen atoms come together to make helium, could release enough energy to power our sun for billions of years.
Who was John Bahcall and what was his role in solving the solar neutrino mystery?
John Bahcall was a 29-year-old astrophysicist at Caltech and the father of Safi Bahcall. He proposed a new way to test Hans Bethe's ideas by building a detector that could measure byproducts of the nuclear fusion reactions in the sun.
What solution did the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory provide to the solar neutrino mystery?
The Sudbury Neutrino Observatory provided the solution that neutrinos had a mass, they came in three flavors, and they oscillated between those three, solving the puzzle.
What lesson did John Bahcall's story teach his son Safi?
The lesson that John Bahcall's story taught his son Safi was to not give up. If something doesn't work the way you expected, you may have just discovered something important.
AI Comments
đ This is an amazing story of how two scientists, Hans Bethe and John Bahcall, were able to uncover the mystery of how stars shine. It's an inspiring tale of perseverance and collaboration that will surely leave readers feeling inspired.
đ The article is overly long and its focus on scientific details makes it difficult to follow for readers without a scientific background. Additionally, the writer's personal anecdotes make the article feel self-indulgent.
AI Discussion
Me: It's about a physicist named John Bahcall and his research into the mystery of how stars shine. His son, Safi Bahcall, wrote the article.
Friend: Wow, that's really interesting. What are the implications of the article?
Me: Well, I think the article implies that it's important to keep searching for answers to difficult questions, even when the answer is not immediately clear. It also shows how collaboration across different cultures and fields of study can lead to incredible breakthroughs. Finally, it emphasizes the importance of believing in yourself, even when the odds may seem stacked against you.
Action items
- Research the history of the birth of modern science, including Arthur Koestlerâs The Sleepwalkers, Steven Weinbergâs To Explain the World, and David Woottonâs The Invention of Modern Science.
- Learn more about the solar neutrino mystery, including my fatherâs role in solving it.
- Reflect on the quote from Jonathan Haidt and Greg Lukianoffâs The Coddling of the American Mind: âPrepare the child for the road, not the road for the child.â
Technical terms
- Norse
- an ancient Scandinavian people.
- Aztecs
- a Mesoamerican civilization that flourished in central Mexico in the post-classic period from 1300 to 1521.
- Dies Natalis Solis Invicti
- Latin for "birthday of the unconquered sun," a Roman festival celebrated on December 25.
- Tycho's comets
- comets observed by the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe in the late 16th century.
- Kepler's ellipses
- the elliptical orbits of planets proposed by the German astronomer Johannes Kepler in the early 17th century.
- Galileo's telescope
- the telescope invented by the Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei in the early 17th century.
- Nuclear fusion
- a process in which two or more atomic nuclei join together to form a single, heavier nucleus.
- Neutrinos
- subatomic particles with no electric charge and very little mass.
- Julian calendar
- a calendar introduced by Julius Caesar in 45 BC, which was in use in Europe until 1582.
- Sudbury Neutrino Observatory
- an underground particle physics laboratory located in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada.
- Richard Feynman
- an American physicist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1965.
- John Bahcall
- an American astrophysicist and the father of Safi Bahcall.