I was going to defer comments about Mimi's debut as cover model for
internationally circulated magazines until I had my copy in hand; I
expect the small-scale version on the Sky Publishing web site doesn't
do the photo justice. Congratulations to Mimi anyway; her photo is
not only appropriate for the matter of how come there are so few
younger people in astronomy these days, but also of how come there are
so few women.
This business about participation by young people is interesting.
When I was in seventh or eighth grade, I started a junior astronomy
club that ran eight or ten members, drawing from a junior high school
that had about five or six hundred kids altogether. I wonder if I
would have similar organizational success if I were doing it today. I
will be quite curious to read Kelly Beatty's article.
-- Jay Freeman