Mirrors in orbit...

“When the flight is not high the fall is not heavy.”
– Chinese Proverb

Sputnik's launch struck fear in the hearts of men - with a Soviet satellite orbiting Earth the end was surely near. Fifty years later, we have sputnik to thank for laptop computers and iPods and warm winter clothes and perhaps the coolest technological show down our species has ever known...

In a sense, Sputnik was Stendhal's mirror (see Tuesday) writ large. Super large. Climb a tree, a hill, a mountain – height always brings us important new information about the world around us. That information, documented properly, can be used strategically for personal, political, and military gain, but it can also shed light on our collective place in a much larger mystery.

Happy birthday Sputnik. And a Happy World Animal Day too.

(apologies to Nick Brandt)