Have a look at my Guide to a Career in Astronomy area for an overview of how I got inspired, and how some other astronomers also got the 'bug'. As for how my interests have changed, yes I have to admit I do not get the same thrill about astronomy that I did when I was 10 years old. I do find it interesting, but in different and more 'mature' ways. It is hard to put my finger on exactly what the difference is, but I think I see the universe as a more fact-based 'system' than when I was 10 years old and lived more in the world of fantasy. At 10 years of age, I did not really appreciate that the laws of physics placed definite limits upon what was real and what was wishful thinking. Still, I enjoy reading science fiction and descriptions of time-travel and other bizarre phenomena that only our creative imaginations seem able to create, but not Mother Nature. I avoid 'fantasy' which I get no enjoyment out of the way I did when I was younger, and I find Babylon 5 a much more technically plausible universe than Star Trek. I would never have made this distinction when I was 10 years old.
Copyright 1997 Dr. Sten Odenwald
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