​Field note excerpt from research for The Ultraview Effect (forthcoming, May 2026, University of California Press).

4-1-19, Vatican Observatory
At 4pm I did an interview with “Dario,” who described himself as a “secular priest,” meaning that he doesn’t belong to a particular order. He is an expert on the formation of galaxies ... He was trying to explain to me that we can see certain galaxies that are not in our line of sight because of a “lensing” effect where areas with a lot of mass (including a lot of dark matter) bend the light so that we essentially see around a corner. I think I get it… Kind of… He introduced me to the Italian word meraviglia, which means wonder, marvel, surprise, astonishment. He is, however, skeptical about miracles…

​March 7, 2019. Mojave, California.
I was hanging out ahead of my noon interview when I got an email from test pilot “Orville.” He had between 11:30 and 12 noon open for a flight, and could I do that? I said yes. A few minutes later he texted me to be at the pilot’s lounge in 10 minutes. Boom, I was there… We were going to go up in the silver plane.
Orville had reassured me by telling me about a 97 year old lady who had recently gone up and also about a 6’4” man with a walker who weighed 400 pounds and who had also gone up. He had also asked me if I liked roller coasters, saying small plane flight was more like a roller coaster than being in a boat. It was pretty windy and I was expecting a lot of drops and stuff but also felt that I could handle that better than some of his other passengers.
We flew up and it… was very similar to taking off on a larger plane. The sky was blue with some tiny puffy clouds here and there and we soared out over the desert …We went to the far end of our trip and then turned around, which was the most roller coaster part of the whole experience. We then headed back to the airport and slowly lit down.

​Field note excerpt from research for The Ultraview Effect (forthcoming, Spring 2026, University of California Press).

​April 8, 2019
It was a great interview. “Giorgio” really ties together mysticism and science, has a sort of experiential encounter with God through his physics and says the harmony and beauty of the universe prove to him that God loves us. He also had an encounter, similar to “Benedetto’s”, with a non-believing teacher who challenged him. The Vatican Observatory is such a unique situation, such an amazing location where these perfect science/religion hybrids can (usually) flourish.

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, April 13, 2019
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But then we get to “Cody” and “Alonzo,” who are on the machine side, but it’s not about the mechanics. It’s back to the science. And the science is about wonder and understanding and how to make machines that can do our science for us and connect us more clearly with space, show it to us. They live in a state of awe, both to do with what their larger organization is doing, but also with what they find themselves doing. They are part of sending a probe to Mars that will look for signs of life. That’s damned amazing. And scary.

​And both of them have given up the religions they were raised with but haven’t gone into full atheism. They are too aware of how much they don’t know.

​Ooh, that’s actually important. Being aware of how much you don’t know seems to contribute to religiosity or at least opens one up to awe. Awe is a self-sustaining loop.

My book The Ultraview Effect: What We Can Learn from Astronauts about Awe, Humility, and Exploring the Unknown is due to be published in spring 2026 by the University of California Press. Based on ethnographic work among members of the space community, the astronauts, astronomers, engineers, flight surgeons and others working to support and conduct the exploration of outer space, it focuses on how wonder, humbleness, and curiosity arise among many of those who contemplate the cosmos on a regular basis. I plan to post excerpts from my field notes on most Fridays to give a sense of the research behind the book. 

September 5, 2017
“Zack” seemed attracted by the idea that there were 400 billion stars in the Milky Way galaxy and many billions of galaxies. He was particularly taken by the notion that there could be multiple universes (he believes new universes come from black holes) and noted that ten years ago people pooh-poohed the idea of multiple universes but now physicists say it’s possible. That was a victory for his beliefs, positive reinforcement.
 
He also believes that we are limited by our biology and circumstances from understanding reality and that everything we think we understand is incomplete.
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