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There is now a CONTENT FREEZE for Mercury while we switch to a new platform. It began on Friday, March 10 at 6pm and will end on Wednesday, March 15 at noon. No new content can be created during this time, but all material in the system as of the beginning of the freeze will be migrated to the new platform, including users and groups. Functionally the new site is identical to the old one. webteam@gatech.edu
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Abstract: I knew from the time I was a very young child that I wanted to be an astronomer. The dream lasted until I got to college, where I learned to my dismay that I actually had no passion for doing what an astronomer does; what I really wanted is to know what an astronomer knows. This is the story of how it all worked out.
MICHAEL D. LEMONICK is the Opinion Editor at Scientific American. He has written more than 50 Time magazine cover stories on science, and has written for National Geographic, The New Yorker and other publications.