Going Public

Galileo's astronomical innovations leveraged the public imagination. Public astronomy relies on our capacity to learn and also on our emotional and aesthetic responses to inspire wonder and a passion for discovery. Griffith Observatory, in Los Angeles, a pioneer of public astronomy, has relied on the principle of "the building as instrument" since 1935. A recent renovation and expansion preserves and advances that initiative. Putting visitors eyeball to the cosmos, the Observatory transforms them into observers and demonstrates how astronomical inspiration works on behalf of our survival.