Dear Friends,
A short e-mail this time: This morning’s transit of Venus produced many beautiful images that will undoubtedly appear on the web over the coming days. For the moment, I recommend taking a look at a slide show that the New York Times has just posted on its web site. Go to http://www.nytimes.com/ (you may need to register, but it is free). If you check there today, you’ll see a heading for “The Transit of Venus” near the upper-right of the page; click on the link “Slide Show: A World Event.” (After today you may need to search the NYT web site to find the slide show.) It’s a great set of photos — my favorite is the one with fishermen and a pelican in Daytona Beach — and shows how all the world does indeed to share some common interest in science and our remarkable universe.
Best wishes,
Jeff
PS. Some of you have asked for an update on Max, my family’s dog who is featured in my children’s book Max Goes to the Moon: Max is 9 years old and was recently diagnosed with bone cancer. Two weeks ago he had surgery to remove the tumor from his shoulder. He is now undergoing chemo treatments. As with any cancer, the prognosis is uncertain. Statistically he has a 50% chance of survival for 1 year, 30% of survival for 2 years or more. Of course, age 9 is already getting up there for a large dog like a Rottweiler. We can only hope to have as much time as possible with him, and we thank you for all your good wishes.