“We work a lot with the arts at the observatory, in many ways. But creativity? It’s not actually a word I use every day running our astronomy programmes for the public and schools – so I have to think hard about where it fits with what we do. In fact, nor do I hear our scientists or engineers using it either, as they work on the world’s biggest telescopes or grapple with understanding the distant Universe. Of course, there is creativity in all this work here. I think, starting from what I see around me at the observatory, there is a powerful beauty in astronomy and space that fosters a wide pool of attributes – among children and adults – from which I might pick a sense of wonder, curiosity, reflection, reasoning and creativity. That’s the connection.”
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Dan Hillier, Edinburgh Observatory