Conclusions

Has your work brought you any spiritual or philosophical insights about man's place in the universe?

That's a very large question. I guess the simple answer is no, it hasn't. It raises the question, but I don't have any answers. I guess I would have to say no, I don't have any spiritual response, though I can imagine that many would.

If students were to watch this tape and follow your intellectual journey, as we talked about it here, what advice would you give them for preparing for a future in the fields that you work in?

I'm afraid my answer is kind of mundane. It is that even if you find mathematics difficult, stay with it, it gets easier. And then, similar comments about the basic sciences. Astronomy is an applied subject, you're applying the fundamental disciplines of mathematics, physics, chemistry, and hopefully, in the future, biology, to a very particular area of inquiry, which happens to be astronomy.

Looking back at your own life, I'm curious if you have any insights about the intellectual journey that you've taken that would be of interest to our audience -- any surprises, any connections that you've made in that intellectual journey that are not obvious just by what we've discussed here?

I don't think so, really. As I said, my journey was kind of accidental. Probably most people who end up doing what I do were quite clear about it from the beginning, and they knew what they wanted to do. And they probably do it better because of that. But, in my case, I don't think it's a very helpful example because ... I did work very hard, that's a good example.

But there's an element of curiosity -- finding problems that are complex, that intrigue you. In the beginning you said you were frustrated with math because it seemed to not have a base in reality, if I can characterize what I thought you said.

Well, what I said about my discovery about mathematics, which is not equally shared by everybody, was that it seemed to me an intellectual game, like chess, which you would play. It was entertaining and stimulating, but I wanted to not invent my own problems; I wanted to deal with real problems that were generated around me. So I went to physics, which was the obvious place to go if I really wanted to use mathematics. There was something else you asked ...

Curiosity being the ...

Oh, yes, I did want to respond to that. I should have to mentioned this. I was always fascinated by puzzles and games, whatever and wherever they came from. That was significant, though I didn't know it at the time, in the decisions that I made, that were being made for me, I suppose. I was always very fascinated and got a great deal of pleasure about solving problems -- not necessarily mathematical problems; intellectual, logical problems.

One final question, and that is, do you read much science fiction?

I don't read any science fiction, with one exception. A former student of mine, Cathy Osara -- she got a Ph.D. with me -- is a well-known science fiction writer, so I read her. That's the only science fiction I read.

On that note, Professor Dalgarno, I want to thank you very much for taking the time to share with us some of the journeys and the side roads that were part of this intellectual journey that led to your work in astrophysics. Thank you very much.

Well, if I've were to do it again, I would probably respond a little more intelligently than I did!

Oh, no, no, this was quite fascinating. It makes one want to go to the next lecture that you're giving, even though some of us are not in a position to understand more than a third of it. But it is fascinating. Thank you very much.

Thank you.

And thank you very much for joining us for this Conversation with History.

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