Its kind and sparkling form fills the computer screen with light. Our online Zoom meeting has begun, and American physicist, journalist, and author Marsha Bartusak is ready to talk about what makes her latest book, The Day We Discovered the Universe (Torpe Publishing, 2022), so exciting. A book with a scope as ambitious as the science epic it tells: an astronomical exploration that took place in the early twentieth century that led to the chilling realization that the universe is much, much larger (a thousand trillion times more, to be exact) . ) than we thought

When the then young American astronomer Edwin Hubble announced his shocking discovery on the first day of 1925, the scientific community of the planet (and humanity as a whole) was shaken to the core. As Marcia Bartusak characteristically writes in her book, “we seem to have squeezed into a square meter of the earth’s surface and suddenly realized that there are actually unexplored oceans and continents, cities and villages, mountains and deserts, stretching far beyond the globe.” a small piece of land lying under our feet. And as if that wasn’t enough, four years later Hubble made another shocking discovery: The universe is not static, but expanding. “Space-time is in motion,” as Bartusak writes in his lyrical tone.

Awarded six times by the American Institute of Physics, her work has been published in iconic journals such as National Geographic, Discover, Astronomy, Science, and MIT Technology Review, and she is a regular columnist for Natural History. In addition, until recently, she was a professor in the graduate program in science writing at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). However, her letter is even more impressive than her resume. However, The Day We Discovered the Universe must be read to get a feel for how her remarkable talent unfolds in the adventures of science, while at the same time telling a story about the human soul and its complex depths.

With her bright blue eyes, short red hair, warm voice, and the light of a bright morning in suburban Boston illuminating her desk and books, Marcia Bartusak is as generous and enthusiastic in our conversation as she is in the prose of her delightful book.

– Indeed, the 1920s were marked by incredible steps forward at all levels of science. All this sudden great progress was due to a unique coincidence, a combination of defining factors. It was the “perfect storm”. The wealth generated by the great economic boom in the United States at the end of the 19th century led to private funding of scientific research and the use of new instruments such as microscopes and telescopes, as well as new, more precise electronic instruments, which in turn helped to give birth to new ideas and theories. This whole climate was very lively, especially in the field of astronomy. An example is the very technology of telescopes of that time, which began to be made on the basis of mirrors, and no longer lenses, which made them stronger. Great industrialists such as Rockefeller or Carnegie helped with their donations to start all this development, since the state did not yet have the mechanisms for this. Of course, there have also been a number of important scientists in the field, such as George Hale of Mount Wilson Observatory, who had an uncanny ability to understand what is required to move forward in the field of astronomy, and ambitious visionaries such as Hubble.

The research being done in gravitational wave astronomy is a new way to explore the universe not through electromagnetic radiation, but through the vibrations of space-time.

– Indeed, this story can be called “American”. This is the story of America coming of age. The last years of the 19th century saw an alarming increase in the country’s GDP and a concentration of great wealth, something that also happened in China in the last decade. At the same time, America had a desire to surpass “mother” Europe, and wealthy businessmen with a social conscience helped in this. They provided the resources to build the best and largest telescope in the world. It was, you see, a matter of prestige, a way to “raise” the name of the country. At the same time, a Europe that had suffered from the First World War and was stuck in the slow-burning procedures of public funding of scientific research, it was logical to leave behind.

– Both things happen. My book shows how the great astronomer Harlow Shapley, the “golden boy” of astronomy in the 1920s, acknowledged the existence of other galaxies but did not expand on his method. His ego did not allow him to see further. However, in the case of Hubble, his great desire for great discoveries (and, of course, his amazing sensorium) propelled him forward. At the time, research on spiral nebulae was not particularly popular, but Hubble bet on it. And he won.

– Yes, and this is already coming with the James Webb Space Telescope, which, it is worth noting, is a direct descendant of the fundamental cosmology started by Hubble, who was the first to say that there are other galaxies than our own, and a huge universe to explore. This telescope is the perfect tool for taking the big “next step”. I believe that this is how we will know (and already know) about the creation of the first stars. We will be able to see them “light up” and this has been something of a “Holy Grail” for astronomers for decades. Also, all this new research is going on in gravitational wave astronomy, a new way to explore the universe not with electromagnetic radiation, but with the vibrations of spacetime. Thus, we can understand how gravity, which describes the universe as a whole, works, as well as quantum mechanics, which describes the microscopic world as a whole. Perhaps we can see how these two spaces can be combined, as happens in black holes, and this is where gravitational wave astronomy is aimed. All of this research will take us back to the creation of the universe, and it will be a monumental, dazzling moment for our science and civilization. Imagine that now we are talking about the possibility of the existence of other universes within the “multiverse”. Oh yes, I’m sure that in the coming years and decades we should expect many surprises about the universe. And you know what? We always say the same thing, “now we all know,” but in the end there always comes a twist. We always think we have the “ultimate” model of the universe, and then something new comes along that changes everything. It is simply a continuing pattern of humanity’s unstoppable movement forward. We must get used to this thought and finally become more humble.

Marcia Bartusiak, The Day We Discovered the Universe. Themistokis Halikias, published by Moment, p. 556.