The Galactic Question Center

We all know so much about New York City. Many of us have been to the main part. We've walked down Fifth Avenue, seen Central Park, Trump Tower, the Empire State Building. We've seen Soho and Greenwich Village. We've been to the famous museums and wandered through Grand Central Station and Times Square. Yet Brooklyn, a term which we hear so often, remains a mystery. Few of us have ever been there, seen its buildings, or even know what is there. It remains an archetype of something that has meaning and supposed importance but can't quite be imagined in a concrete fashion. We think of it as a breeding ground of so many famous science writers like Asimov, Sagan, Gould and countless others -- but few of us can say where it is or point to in on a map, or articulate how Brooklyn has changed over the years and why someone would want to visit it today. Why did Brooklyn breed some of the most famous science popularizers of recent times? Brooklyn is a true mystery.