Pat

Scholar of the history of astronomy

Owns a telescope

Reads articles instead of fiction

Brings a Planisphere everywhere

Candlelit nights studying physics

Lookout nights on top of cars and high hills

Silver jewellery

Bookworm

Reads Sagan’s Cosmos on the train

Starmaps everywhere

Library of books on maths, physics, astronomy

Mind in the stars too much

Observatory visits everyday

Dark blue blouse and black jeans

Notebooks scattered of statistics and recordings

Constantly observes a favourite star

Nocturnal nights

Algebra and formulas on blackboards

Quite midnight walks thinking about theories

Codings in the background

the astrophysics students

dreaming of discoveries yet to be made

wonder at the vastness of the cosmos

long equations scrawled across graph paper

jwst images as your phone lockscreen

solving complex orbital mechanics problems

debating the nature of dark matter

studying relativity and gravitational waves

mind-bending thought experiments that change your way of thinking

stargazing on a clear night

seeing supernovas and black holes in your mind's eye

discovering new stars and planets

a drive to understand the fundamentals of our universe

READ THAT STACK OF BOOKS NEXT TO YOUR BED

READ THAT STACK OF BOOKS NEXT TO YOUR BED

READ THAT STACK OF BOOKS NEXT TO YOUR BED

READ THAT STACK OF BOOKS NEXT TO YOUR BED

the grad student life 

- romanticizing the ordinary

The love for knowledge, living to learn, discover and invent

dozens of scientific articles stacked on your desk

learning how to communicate your research

incorporating your personal style into every presentation or talk

upbeat music through your headphones while coding or writing , to drown the outside world

a keen eye for spotting information from a maze of texts

knowing instinctively the BS in articles or presentations

frantically scribbling new research ideas before you forget them

working even on Sundays

recognizing science (or anything academic) in songs and movie scenes

the familiar sound of keys tapping in the lab

a scattering of notebooks and scientific articles across your desk

spending hours in LaTeX, editing each line in your thesis

doodling whenever there’s pen and paper in front of you

to-do lists pinned everywhere: your notebooks, laptop screens, desks

a fascination with people and how they perceive the world around them

the urge to be eternally productive

the glow of your computer screen, centering your focus

a pack of your favorite highlighters tucked into your bag

never being reluctant to ask questions - the most weird ones

always being open to people’s opinions

the self-awareness of our own scientific bias

the constant battle to unlearn and the dazzling moments of epiphany

A moment of silence for the fact I left all the books I was reading and needed for Spring Journal on this bedside table.

Edinburgh, Scotland.