…especially when described in Ebonmuse’s inimitable, emotive style in “The Age Of Wonder”:

Consider what we witness when we peer into the cosmos with our telescopic eyes. We see light born billions of years ago in the crucible of dying stars, shining out across the cosmos and becoming ever more diffused, until at last our telescopes captured the lonely few photons that arrive bearing news of stupendous, ancient catastrophes. We see colliding galaxies, matter swirling into the abyss of black holes, and stars exploding with titanic force, sending out jets of energy visible across the known universe.

Our astronomy bears witness to births as well as deaths. We sift invisible light and see the ripples in the faint microwave glow that bathes all of space, distant echoes of the incomprehensible cauldron of heat and density in which the universe itself was born. We see dense nebulae where new stars are being born, burning away the dusty cradles of their formation like sunrise through fog. We see young planets circling their parent stars, their gravity cutting clear swaths through the veils of gas surrounding them. Most of the planets we have detected are hot Jupiters, but perhaps in some of these systems lurk embryonic Earths, awaiting their chance to cool and condense and one day become cradles of life of their own.

Whoever says a lack of religious or spiritual belief sucks all the awe and wonderment out of life doesn’t have a (pardon my French) freaking clue what they’re on about. It’s writing like this, typical of Ebonmuse, which convey precisely what we rationalist/naturalist/science-cheerleader types (regardless of our particular religion – or lack of it) find so utterly fascinating, fulfilling, satisfying and awe-inspiring about nature and its processes. With that in mind, maybe my post should be re-titled “Nature is totally awesome”. After all, it’s the natural universe that we adore and science is our toolbox, our resource kit, our standard procedure manual that we use to discover its mysteries. But I suppose that, in itself, is indeed totally awesome. “Use the right tool for the job”, as my dad would say.

Anyway, enough from me. Do yourself a favour: go and read the whole thing.