{"id":61865,"date":"2026-04-08T05:00:23","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T04:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eden-saga.com\/en\/?p=61865"},"modified":"2026-04-05T09:30:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T08:30:11","slug":"hubert-reeves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eden-saga.com\/en\/hubert-reeves.html","title":{"rendered":"Reeves Get It All"},"content":{"rendered":"

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“Very early I understood that what was taught in the textbooks had a provincial side, without imagination, which lacked air,”<\/em> wrote Hubert Reeves, friendly scientist who always pleased me. Crowned with success in all his endeavors and his numerous reconversions, he has always remained faithful to himself without ever taking himself seriously — which, in my opinion, is a major sign of genius.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\nHis Life<\/h4>\n

Born on July 13, 1932 in Montreal and died on October 13, 2023 in Paris 13th, this Franco-Canadian astrophysicist of Quebec origin was also a scientific popularizer as clear as exciting. His two most well-known and appreciated works are Stardust and Patience in the Azure.<\/p>\n

Enrolled in the Faculty of Science at the Universit\u00e9 de Montr\u00e9al, he obtained a bachelor\u2019s degree in physics (1953), then presented a master\u2019s thesis entitled Formation of Positronium in Hydrogen and Helium (1955) at McGill University. He is pursuing his studies in nuclear astrophysics at Cornell University. In 1960, he defended his doctoral thesis, entitled ‘Thermonuclear Reaction Involving Medium Light Nuclei’. He begins his career in the years 19-0 as a researcher in astrophysics.\u00a0<\/p>\n

From the 1970s, he successfully practices scientific popularization. Dividing his time between France and Quebec, Reeves became an environmental activist in the early 2000s.<\/p>\n

His great clarity of mind and even greater modesty deserve to be humbly praised this honest man.<\/p>\n

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His Books<\/h4>\n

Stardust<\/h2>\n

I was told: you are nothing but ashes and dust. They forgot to tell me that it was star dust.<\/span><\/p>\n

This book would like to be an ode to the Universe. I tried to pay tribute to its splendor and intelligibility,<\/span>
\nto express both his creativity and his wealth.<\/span><\/p>\n

I wanted to give something to contemplate. And to understand.<\/span><\/p>\n

Very early I understood that what we were taught in the textbooks<\/span>
\nhad a provincial side, without imagination, which lacked air.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Patience in the azure<\/h2>\n

Patience, patience,<\/span>
\nPatience in the azure!<\/span>
\nEach atom of silence<\/span>
\nIs the luck of a ripe fruit!<\/span><\/p>\n

\nPaul Val\u00e9ry, lying on the warm sand of a lagoon, looks at the sky. In his field of vision, palm trees sway limply, ripening their fruits. He is attentive to the weather that quietly does its work. This listening can be applied to the universe. Over time, cosmic gestation takes place. Every second, the universe prepares something. He slowly ascends the steps of complexity.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In a few decades, we will no longer be, but our atoms will always exist, continuing elsewhere the development of the world.<\/span><\/p>\n

If the night were not dark, there would be no one to realize it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Our universe expands like a puff of air in the oven, a pudding with grapes, into a space that it creates itself.<\/span><\/p>\n

The universe is a machine to make consciousness.<\/span><\/p>\n

On an astronomical scale, light progresses at a turtle\u2019s pace. The news it brings us is no longer fresh at all!<\/span><\/p>\n

In science as elsewhere, intellectual inertia, fashion, the weight of institutions and authoritarianism are always to be feared.<\/span><\/p>\n

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His Quotes<\/h4>\n

Reeves took it all\u00a0<\/h2>\n

The drama of human existence is having to give up one day being in the light.<\/span><\/p>\n

Heresies play an essential role. They keep the spirits on high alert.<\/span><\/p>\n

Correctly estimating one\u2019s degree of ignorance is a healthy and necessary step.<\/span><\/p>\n

The question is not whether God exists or not. But rather: who is He, and what does He play?<\/span><\/p>\n

\nBecoming an adult is recognizing, without suffering too much, that Santa Claus does not exist.<\/span>
\nIt is learning to live in doubt and uncertainty.<\/span>
\nBecoming an adult is developing, through experiences,<\/span>
\nhis own philosophy, his own morality. Avoid ready-to-think.<\/span><\/p>\n

All philosophy is inseparable from the emotional world from which it emerges.<\/span>
\nHer interest comes from the fact that she testifies to a human experience,<\/span>
\nof a meeting of an inner world with the outer world.<\/span><\/p>\n

Things are what they are because they were what they were…<\/span><\/p>\n

No one knows exactly what things are like when you\u2019re not looking at them.<\/span><\/p>\n

Do numbers have a mode of existence outside the mind of the one who thinks them?<\/span><\/p>\n

To make the most of the knowledge acquired, to extract all the wealth,<\/span>
\nit is important not to get used to it too quickly, to allow yourself time for surprise and astonishment.<\/span><\/p>\n

As the pregnant woman does not know what her belly is preparing,<\/span>
\nwe do not know what wonders can still arise from the development of cosmic complexity.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nReeves said it all<\/h2>\n

The man is an accident of course, in an empty and cold cosmos. He is a child of chance.<\/span><\/p>\n

Observing is disruptive.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nSpace takes the shape of my gaze<\/span><\/p>\n

To look “far” is to look “early”.<\/span><\/p>\n

Currently, man is waging a war against nature. If he wins, he is lost.<\/span><\/p>\n

The man is crazy. He adores an invisible God and destroys a visible nature,<\/span>
\nunconscious that the Nature he destroys is the God he worships.<\/span><\/p>\n

The words “harmful species” and “weeds” are only the reflection of a secularly rooted prejudice,<\/span>
\naccording to which plants and animals are there to serve us or rejoice us,<\/span>
\nand that we have a discretionary right over them.<\/span>
\nThese words are the direct translation of our egocentrism (or anthropocentrism),<\/span>
\nof our ignorance and our narrow-mindedness.<\/span>
\nAnimals considered harmful are only by us,<\/span>
\nand it is the same for the so-called bad herbs.<\/span>
\nIn reality, we are only one species among many others.<\/span><\/p>\n

When we abuse a species, we abuse ourselves.<\/span><\/p>\n

To explore the field of possibilities, DIY is the most effective method.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Reeves made it clear<\/h2>\n

If the night were not dark, there would be no one to realize it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Heresies play an essential role. They keep the spirits on high alert.<\/span><\/p>\n

Correctly estimating one\u2019s degree of ignorance is a healthy and necessary step.<\/span><\/p>\n

Do numbers have a mode of existence outside the mind of the one who thinks them?<\/span><\/p>\n

Distinguish between the ‘reasonable’ and the ‘rational’. The first includes intuition and affective.<\/span>
\nThe second implies only a correct execution of the logical process.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nReeves made it clearer<\/h2>\n

Who would be bold enough to affirm that we know and perceive all the forces,<\/span>
\nall the waves and all the means of communication?<\/span><\/p>\n

Our universe expands like a puff of air in the oven, a pudding with grapes, into a space that it creates itself.<\/span><\/p>\n

In science as elsewhere, intellectual inertia, fashion,<\/span>
\nthe weight of institutions and authoritarianism are always to be feared.<\/span><\/p>\n

To make the most of the knowledge acquired, to extract all the wealth,<\/span>
\nimportant not to get used to it too quickly, to let oneself have the time of surprise and astonishment.<\/span><\/p>\n

Modern science is an admirable monument that honors the human species<\/span>
\nand which compensates (a little) for the immensity of his warlike stupidity.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

On the cosmic scale, liquid water is rarer than gold.<\/span><\/p>\n

Disasters ‘happen’. Then, they ‘happened’. And we move on.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Remember Reeves<\/h4>\n

His pale blue eyes<\/span><\/strong>
\nPiercing the skies<\/span><\/strong>
\nAre tough and tight.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

His golden mind<\/span><\/strong>
\nOne of a kind<\/span><\/strong>
\nIs vaste and bright.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

His subtle talk<\/span><\/strong>
\nWhiter than chalk<\/span><\/strong>
\nNoble and light.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Cosmology<\/h2>\n