HUMANITARIAN
AND CULTURAL
FALLOUT
FROM
HALLEY’S COMET
We are increasingly impressed by the
various projects that are being undertaken in the name of Halley’s Comet. Through our own activities at Halley’s Comet
Watch ’86 we are providing services to schools and libraries which are
encouraging a great number of young people to learn more about astronomy and
space. We have made a special effort to
show that Edmond Halley’s discovery was the result of years of research and the
successive contributions of other great scientists such as Copernicus, Brahe,
Galileo, Kepler and his friend, Newton.
The worldwide interest in the comet and its history makes it an historic
event of vast proportions. We have
listed below several projects that go beyond the passing interest in the
comet. We plan to report further on
these projects in future newsletters.
HALLEY’S
DAY OF HARMONY – a
project of General Comet Industries, the aim of this effort is to create a
worldwide day of peace and harmony.
According to its founder, Owen Ryan, a New York City Advertising
Agent, Halley captures our imagination because “it has the ability to make us
feel AT ONE TIME the opposite pull of two very different sensations. On the one hand, there is a quality to the
comet that makes us feel we are a part of it in some mystical way even if only
briefly felt deep in our subconscious – yet in that way, it makes us feel very
large and very important indeed. On the
other hand, the sheer size of this heavenly apparition makes us aware of how
truly tiny and transitory we mortal beings are in the cosmic scheme of
things.” Ryan hopes to promote the
comet’s arrival to the average man on the street. If successful, his efforts would result in a charitable
organization to further world peace through 2062 and beyond.
KIDS FOR
THE COMET – a project
suggested and initiated by Harriet Miller, a teacher of gifted students
in Georgia. The idea is to get children
involved in forming local and regional comet clubs to spur an interest in astronomy. The possibilities are limitless when the
ideas of teachers of the young throughout the world are pooled. The children themselves may come up with
unique possibilities for all of us.
DARK SKIES
FOR COMET HALLEY – the
project of Fred Schaaf of Millville, New Jersey, has been described in
this and previous issues of the HCW Newsletter. The value of the idea, however, goes well beyond the arrival of
Comet Halley. The focus of the project
is on the conservation of energy and the elimination of light pollution in
addition to providing dark zones for astronomical observing. Here again, the comet is but a catalyst for
an ongoing societal reformation.
These three projects are the ones we’ve heard about to date. Undoubtedly, there are many more. The International Halley Watch itself has already done much to promote international cooperation. In addition to the worldwide network of amateur observers, the international involvement in the four Halley space probes augurs well for future cooperation. Future newsletters will focus on this fascinating subject of “comet fallout”.