week 9 Space and Art

Space, like mathematics and medicine, has always been in the focus of art and science. Since ancient times, people have looked to the movement of the stars both for practical and artistic purposes. For example, from Gary Thompson. ancient civilizations and the Greco-Egyptian scholar Ptolemy viewed some groups of stars or constellations as resembling mythical figures or objects such as Orion the hunter and the Big and Little Dippers. From Bruce McClure, sea faring peoples have always looked to the North Star to guide their ship navigation before the compass's invention and widespread use. In addition, a well known part of science that was focused on during the Renaissance was astronomy, with the works of Copernicus and Galileo challenging the church's accepted belief in that the earth is the center of the solar system.

Even in today's society, space is a topic that is very prevalent in both art and science. Space could probably have the most publicity in the field of art and science, as almost every elementary school has taught students about NASA's role in probing planets and asteroids, sending spacecraft into orbit, and sending men to the moon. Kepler's three laws describing planetal orbit is taught in introductory physics textbooks (Serway 214). Most people are familiar with space related movies such as Star Wars, ET, and Star Trek. Star wars: Empire Strikes Back was even added to the Library of Congress in 2010 according to Jordan Zakarin.  Even in high school, I remember watching and having to analyze 2001: A Space Odyssey for English class.

Historically, a shift in  education with an emphasis on math, engineering, and technology came about with the space race during the Cold War. According to Larry Abramson,  Russia's launching of Sputnik, a satellite just meant to catch the world's attention with its simple radio signals and highly visible reflective surface, pushed the United States to catch up by focusing more on math and science. Overall, Sputnik could be considered a work of both art and science that served as a catalyst that helped bring about change in the United States' education system.  

Abramson, Larry. "Sputnik Left Legacy for U.S. Science Education." NPR. NPR, 30 Sept. 2007. Web. 30 May 2015. <http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14829195>.

McClure, Bruce. "Star of the Week: Polaris Is the North Star | EarthSky.org." EarthSky. N.p., 26 May 2015. Web. 30 May 2015. <http://earthsky.org/brightest-stars/polaris-the-present-day-north-star>.

Serway, Raymond A. College Physics. Pacific Grove, CA: Thomson-Brooks/Cole, 2006. Print.

Thompson, Gary. "Illustration Gallery." History of Constellation and Star Names. N.p., 1 Nov. 2014. Web. 30 May 2015. <http://members.westnet.com.au/gary-david-thompson/page11-26.html>.

Zakarin, Jordan. "'The Empire Strikes Back' Inducted Into Library of Congress' Film Registry." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 28 Dec. 2010. Web. 30 May 2015. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/28/the-empire-strikes-back-inducted-into-library-of-congress-film-registry_n_802041.html>.