Question

Astronomers these days can do the most amazing things. If someone struck a match on the Moon, they could spot the flare. From the tiniest throbs and wobbles of distant stars they can infer the size and character and even potential habitability of planets much too remote to be seen—planets so distant that it would take us half a million years in a spaceship to get there. With their radio telescopes they can capture wisps of radiation so preposterously faint that the total amount of energy collected from outside the solar system by all of them together since collecting began (in 1951) is “less than the energy of a single snowflake striking the ground,” in the words of Carl Sagan. Source: Bryson, Bill. “Welcome to the Solar System.” A Short History of Nearly Everything. New York: Broadway, 2003. 19. Print. What is the author’s main purpose in this excerpt?

Answer 1

The main purpose of the author in this excerpt is to instruct, or to teach, his audience about a particular subject. In this case, the subject is that of astronomy. The author wants to educate the audience on all the amazing things that astronomers can do. Therefore, he summarizes many of the most incredible findings of astronomers in recent years in order to educate the audience on the importance and capabilities of modern astronomers.