"Only when a nation has some people who pay attention to the sky can they have hope; A nation that only cares about what is under its feet has no future. ”
—Hegel
About 2,300 years ago, Qu Yuan wrote the long poem "Tianwen", asking about the sky, the earth, nature, ghosts and gods, and seeking the truth of history and the universe.
At the same time, philosophers and mathematicians in the classical era of Greece were also looking up at the stars, exploring the universe, and thinking rationally about all things.
The spirit of seeking the truth of all things ignited by the sages of the Axial Age is the "Heavenly Questioning Spirit". It is extremely important, and a history of world civilization is a footnote to this sentence.
The philosophical and scientific traditions of Western society, as well as the adventurous traditions of entrepreneurs such as Elon Musk, as well as the laws, institutions and humanistic ideas that shape modern civilization, basically originate from the "Tianwen spirit".
The good fortune of the West lies in the fact that their "Tianwen spirit" has a long history. In modern generations, there are more science masters from Kepler, Galileo, Asimov, Karl Sagan and other science masters to promote the "Tianwen Spirit" to the general public.
China's fate in this regard, however, has been mixed. After Qu Yuan, China's "Tianwen spirit" basically disappeared, and was replaced by a ridicule of "unfounded worries" - the "great divergence" between the East and the West actually began from that moment.
▌China was the first to issue the "Tianwen", but the "Tianwen Spirit" died prematurely
Although Qu Yuan took the lead in issuing the "Heavenly Question", however, this kind of metaphysical questioning was soon interrupted by the ridicule of the "worrying about the sky", and the "Heavenly Question" gradually became a metaphysical thing. The interruption and even the premature death of "Tianwen" can be manifested in at least three levels.
◎There has never been a shortage of people in China who pay attention to the sky, but most of them are used by the royal family to "observe time changes"
China is one of the earliest countries in the world to give birth to the calendar, as early as the Shang Dynasty, there were special officials responsible for the recording and research of the astronomical calendar, and the Yin Shang oracle bone inscription has been found to have five solar eclipses. Such a tradition has existed since then, and has left many astronomical books and a large number of authentic astronomical records.
It can be said that since ancient times, there has been no shortage of "people who pay attention to the sky" in China, such as Zhang Heng, Zu Chongzhi, Guo Shoujing, etc.; It's just a pity that the purpose of these people's attention to the sky is mainly for "things under your feet". China's most powerful motivation for astronomical research comes from the metaphysical concept of "the unity of heaven and man"; Astronomers had a close relationship with the emperor and were often kept within the walls of the palace; Private research on astronomy is also absolutely forbidden.
As Wu Guosheng, a contemporary Chinese historian of science, mentioned in his book "What is Science": "The basic motive of Chinese astronomy is astrology, and although it uses sophisticated computing techniques, the goal is not to seek 'natural laws', but to 'observe time changes'." ”
In other words, the study of astronomy in ancient China was essentially a science of etiquette, and never a science in the modern sense.
◎ Intellectuals, astronomy is only the romance of literati and inkmen
Lao Tzu's "Tao Te Ching" has already thought about the universe, Qu Yuan also wrote the famous "Tianwen", Wang Xizhi, Li Bai, Su Shi and other geniuses have also described the vastness of the universe from a literary point of view.
However, all of these are not systematic, either the assertions of the mystical and mysterious, or the romantic imagination of the literati and inkmen, and the germ of the "Tianwen spirit" has never grown substantially.
◎At the bottom of society, astronomy is Feng Shui, Kanyu, constellations, and the Yellow Calendar
In civil society, astronomy has never been truly banned, but it has never been developed more intelligently, but has been used in Feng Shui, Kanyu, constellations, the Yellow Calendar, and as Lu Xun said, "Foreign countries use compass needles to sail, but China uses it to see Feng Shui".
In such a culture, weddings and funerals seem to have nothing to do with astronomy, but everything has nothing to do with real astronomy. True astronomical knowledge is something that few people care about, and even if someone occasionally wants to explore it, I am afraid that it will only be ridiculed as "unfounded", and will be misunderstood and rejected by those around them.
It can be seen that the great divergence between China and the West did not begin with the germination of capitalism in the 14th and 15th centuries, but in fact, it began from the moment "unfounded worries" became the object of ridicule.
Today, China's astronomical science is very developed, and China's aerospace industry also has a very important position in the world.
However, both the level of basic disciplines such as astrophysics and the level of technology at the application level are still lagging behind. This stems from the fact that for a long time, we have neither a tradition of popular science nor a folk cornerstone of the spirit of Tianwen. The "astronomical craze" of the 80s is now history, and folk astronomy enthusiasts seem to be very niche. To put it simply, to a large extent, astronomy is still regarded as a useless science, and the "spirit of Tianwen" has never been popularized.
▌Why can the "Tianwen Spirit" last for 2,000 years in the West?
On the other hand, in the Western world, since the ancient Greek era, although the thinking and exploration of the universe have been tortuous, they have basically not been interrupted; Especially since the Renaissance, astronomy has gradually become completely independent from theology and mathematics, and has become a prominent science that has changed the worldview of mankind.
From ancient Greek astronomy to the development of contemporary astronomical science and related cultures, there are four very distinct characteristics of the West.
◎Astronomy has always been a metaphysical question in the West, "what is useless is what is useful".
Traditionally, ancient Greek astronomers studied astronomy mostly as a personal act, out of their own interests and hobbies, as well as a thirst for knowledge and a love of truth, which is typical metaphysics. This is completely different from China's strong political and cultural connotations that give astronomy.
◎Astronomy is a science in the West, not a metaphysics
The Pythagoreans were mathematicians who first proposed the hypothesis that the earth was a sphere, and ancient Greek astronomy was essentially a geometry of "spheres". Geometry, on the other hand, represents the authentic scientific spirit of the classical era of Greece, which is completely different from China's confusion of astronomy and metaphysics.
◎The main body of Western astronomical undertakings has always been the private sector
Although the astronomical undertaking in the West in the past few decades has been mainly led by official institutions such as NASA and ESA, in fact, they are only the spire of the "astronomical pyramid" of the West, and the real subjects are in the private sector and in the universities.
The American Astronomical Society, for example, is a purely civil organization; And in recent years, rocket launches and other aviation missions have increasingly been handed over to private companies such as SpaceX. This is very different from China.
◎In the West, it is a historical tradition to popularize the spirit of "Tianwen".
On the one hand, with official support, publishing houses are also willing to publish books on popular science; On the other hand, those great scientists not only do observation and research in their studios, but they are also very happy to introduce what they have learned to the general public in a very popular language.
For example, in order to promote his hypothesis about the moon, Kepler published a story-based book "Dream"; Galileo Galilei also wrote the popular science book Star Messenger.
In modern times, there are even more scientists: Tsiolkovsky and Vlamalion have both written science fiction; Einstein's "My Worldview" and Stephen Hawking's "A Brief History of Time" are also popular science books in essence; Astronomers like Carl Sagan are even more revered as "Mr. Science" for their outstanding contributions to science popularization.
Reading their works, ordinary readers can not only easily understand the vast and boundless universe, but also contribute to the emergence of creativity and imagination, and form a vast and broad world view. Sagan named his masterpiece "The Dark Blue Dot", which is not only a true portrayal of the earth in the universe, but also a humble value.
▌Commemorating the 90th anniversary of the birth of "Mr. Science" Sagan and awakening the "Tianwen Spirit" that has been dormant for thousands of years
Combined with Western experience, it is not difficult to find that the return of the "Tianwen Spirit" began with the return of popular science classics. Reading Western classic astronomy popular science works, cultivating one's own and children's interest in astronomy, and improving astronomical literacy is the easiest and most practical way to awaken the "Tianwen spirit".
For this reason, the Prophet Bookstore recommends a time-tested popular science masterpiece - Carl Sagan's "Dim Blue Dot" Special Commemorative Edition to make up for our regrets in the popularization of astronomical knowledge.
◎ The masterpiece of "Mr. Science" that impressed Hawking, Asimov, and Musk
Hawking's most admired popular science writer is Carl Sagan, who was specially invited to write an introduction to his "A Brief History of Time"; Asimov, a master of popular science, said that Karl Sagan was "the most successful popularizer of science in history"; Musk even bluntly said that he admires Carl Sagan very much, and the concept of "dark blue dot" is very important.
Carl Sagan is known as "Mr. Science", and his books have influenced an era, and his works have been read by 500 million people in at least 60 countries around the world, and the most representative is "The Dull Blue Dot".
◎Awaken the "spirit of Tianwen" in a subtle way and reshape the cosmology
The layout of this book is magnificent, and the chapters are orderly. The book uses 22 chapters to lead the reader, see the ignorance of the universe, understand the process of human exploration of space, fly to the edge of the solar system with the probe, touch the endless darkness of the universe, think about how to transform the planets to achieve interstellar migration, and tiptoe through the galaxy to find the path we want to take...... Help us awaken the "Tianwen Spirit" in a subtle way, and reshape the cosmology beyond the mortal.