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In his scientific education efforts on programs such as "Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey," the astrophysicist and director of Hayden Planetarium, Neil deGrasse Tyson has generally taken an optimistic and curiosity-driven approach to the subject. scientific discovery. But on "Salon Talks" and in his new book, "Accessory to War: The Unspoken Alliance Between Astrophysics and the Army," co-authored by researcher Avis Lang, Tyson looks more closely at detail the development and use of scientific knowledge.
The book explores how the history of astronomy and astrophysics is inextricably linked to the history of warfare, beginning with astronomical mapping and telescope technology in the early 1900s. ancient and medieval times.
Lang and Tyson demonstrate, through this laborious story, how the military has long turned to scientists to help them win wars and, in turn, scientists rely heavily on the military for funding and technological developments that can lead to scientific discoveries.
Talking about "Salon Talks," Tyson says that, while this story is grim, he realized through his research that mere pacifism is not the answer to the ethical dilemmas confronting the destruction scientists .
He argues that if many wars are misguided or quagmires, scientists should also be happy that their work helped, for example, to defeat the Nazis during the Second World War.
These issues are only getting worse with government officials, like Donald Trump and Mike Pence, who are asking the US military to create a space force. However, Tyson admits that "the mere fact that he came out of Trump's mouth does not make it a crazy idea."
Watch the video above to learn more about Tyson's ideas on how humanity can move into the future in a more responsible way – and ideally where there is less war.
Allow yourself for live shows from SalonTV, "Salon Talks" and "Salon Stage", daily at noon ET / 9am PT and 4pm. ET / 1 pm PT, live streaming on YouTube and Salon.com.
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