The Vatican’s Astronomer

If you read the title of this post, you might have had the same
two questions that popped into my head when I first heard about the
Vatican’s astronomer.

First, I didn’t know that the Vatican had an astronomer.

And second: What is the Vatican doing with an astronomer anyway?

Then maybe you had a third question: What is Simon doing writing about the Vatican’s astronomer?

CURIOUS, ISN’T IT? At least it was to me.

It turns out that the Vatican has had an observatory since the 1500s –
and to this day its astronomers work at a giant telescope in Arizona.

Kind of overturns assumptions that some people have about religion and science, doesn’t it?

For 500 years, good scientific work has been undertaken by the
Vatican’s astronomers, acting as a bridge between the scientific
community and the Catholic Church. Right now they’re looking into
quasars.

That whole Galileo thing, which didn’t do a whole lot to promote the
church’s scientific reputation, was a hiccup in centuries of important
work.

They’ve been trying to walk that one back ever since. God and science aren’t in conflict, the Vatican’s astronomers say.

SO WHY AM I WRITING ABOUT THIS? And what does it have to do with newsletters?

Because curiosity is a powerful thing.

And if you can build that into your newsletters, you’ll be more interesting – and you’ll get more readers.

SO HOW do you add a dash of the curious?

You’ll need to do some detective work – and also create some unexpected connections.

It involves looking at your business through a different eye to find the curious and the unique.

And then it involves pulling out that which is curious and unique and
weaving it into a convincing tale that will inform and entertain your
readers.

I think it’s something worth spending time on.