Kids To Space - Prologue by Neil deGrasse Tyson
From The Space Library
Prologue
Why do we explore and what do we hope to discover?
Among all animals in the kingdom, humans are quite comfortable sleeping on their backs. This simple fact affords us a view of the boundless night sky as we fall asleep, allowing us to dream about our place in the cosmos, and wonder what lies undiscovered in the worlds beyond. Or perhaps a gene operates within us that demands we learn for ourselves what awaits us on the other side of the valley, over the seas, or across the vacuum of space. But regardless of the cause, the effect is to leave us restless but for want of a plan to discover. We know in our minds, but especially in our hearts, the value to our culture of new voyages, and the new vistas they provide. Without them, our culture stalls, and our species withers. And we might as well go to sleep looking down.
Neil deGrasse Tyson
October 2005
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