Sandra Faber

I was the kind of kid who liked omnivorously almost all kinds of science - rock collections, fossils - and I like leaves, I like plants, and I like biology.

plants rock biology science

The realization that baryonic matter is only a trace component of the universe revealed our understanding of the cosmos as shockingly incomplete and was one of the milestones that ushered in the era of modern cosmology.

only universe understanding matter

I take comfort in the fact that it is a beautiful universe, and we belong here and that we fit. This is our home.

universe comfort home beautiful

The origin of galaxies is one of the fundamental questions of astronomy, and that's what I've been studying.

origin studying questions astronomy

The Kecks will allow us, like no other telescope in history, to view the evolving universe that gave us birth.

view will universe history

I was born in Boston, but I moved to Cleveland when I was three.

i-was-born boston born three

I remember spending evenings looking at the sky with my dad, who was interested. He was a civil engineer and was interested in science as a kid. And he always encouraged me.

me dad sky science

I graduated from high school in 1962.

graduated high high-school school

I was lonely as a kid. Since I had no siblings, I spent a lot of time by myself and a lot of time reading.

myself lonely reading time

I was a tomboy through and through; I hated dresses and was personally miffed that I couldn't join the Little League team.

tomboy through team dresses

I don't recall my parents ever steering me toward or away from science. It was more that I was steered toward learning and excellence in the classroom.

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Getting to work at Lick was like being touched by the wand of your fairy godmother.

your being like work

Very few astronomers will be mourned with the same degree of love and admiration as Vera Rubin.

degree same will love

I have great respect for the special nature of Mauna Kea and profound regard for Hawaii's culture, environment, and people.

respect nature culture people

Like many astronomers who use the great telescopes on Mauna Kea, I have participated personally and joyfully in ceremonies to celebrate the profound cosmic understanding that comes from joining ancient Hawaiian navigator traditions with the techniques of modern astronomy.

great like celebrate understanding

We've been given the gift of a billion years of cosmic time, and we should not screw it up. But at the rate we're using up our planet's natural resources and fouling our own nest means we're not going to last a billion years.

gift own last time

There are kind of two kinds of awards you can get as a scientist. One is Nobel-like in character: it's for one big thing, for a big revolutionary discovery. And it's wonderfully well known, and of course every scientist would love to get a Nobel prize. And there's a few other similar awards. They're for individual blockbuster discoveries.

you awards love character

Receiving the National Medal of Science is the thrill of a lifetime, but good science does not happen in isolation.

happen good isolation science

Hubble is the most important telescope in history after Galileo's first telescope.

the-most-important important history

Hubble has established for the first time that the distant universe looks different from the nearby universe.

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