Science is, above everything else, a search for an understanding of our relationship with the rest of the universe. We may begin it with the simplest, most basic fact about ourselves: Each of us is a living thing. As such, the most obvious and fundamental medium of our connection to the universe is light. For we, living things, live in a universe of light. We all see; even the simplest fungus or protozoa has receptors that respond to the presence of light. And is it not true that the most feared thing about imprisonment, or even death, is the loss of contact with the light? The dependence of life on light underlies so many metaphors and so much of the imagery of our culture (think of the fear of the dark) that to even quote examples is to risk cliche, but let me mention one, that to understand something is to attain an insight.
Science is, above everything else, a search for an understanding of our relationship with the rest of the universe. We may begin it with the simplest, most basic fact about ourselves: Each of us is a living thing. As such, the most obvious and fundamental medium of our connection to the universe is light. For we, living things, live in a universe of light. We all see; even the simplest fungus or protozoa has receptors that respond to the presence of light. And is it not true that the most feared thing about imprisonment, or even death, is the loss of contact with the light? The dependence of life on light underlies so many metaphors and so much of the imagery of our culture (think of the fear of the dark) that to even quote examples is to risk cliche, but let me mention one, that to understand something is to attain an insight.
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