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There is no path unless it first be trodden.
What your path? What is your destination?
The goal that so enthrals you today will change tomorrow.
What matters is the quest, the distant glow that lights your way.
There is no path unless it first be trodden.
When years have passed and they bid you look back,
That furrow you see in the distance—black, red, silver, and gold—
Will be a story made by many as they passed through.
There is no path unless it first be trodden.
What you will find in this book is the story (an enjoyable one, I hope) of
the origins and progress of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC, or El
Astrofísico, as it is affectionately known in the Islands), and of astrophysics in
Spain generally. This is not an astronomy book that breathlessly relates the
wonders of the Cosmos, rather it is a commentary on the so far brief history
of astrophysics in Spain.
The birth and flourishing of this science in Spain have been so rapid and
spectacular, and took place at such a critical time in the country’s history that
the idea slowly gelled in my mind to write it down. I have the advantage of
having been a front-row witness of, and actor in, the events described, and I
have striven to explain the how and why of what occurred. The story is there
for all to see.
You will learn how the concept of the astronomical sky of the Canarian
summits as a public natural resource has been successfully exploited to the
benefit of science, technology, and even tourism while also laying a rich cultural and economic deposit in the country.
Preface