I was a curious child of educated parents who thought I was a scientist in the making. They sent me to a specialised Science High School and my interest grew stronger and here I am today.

My mother made me a scientist without ever intending to. Every other Jewish mother in Brooklyn would ask her child after school: So? Did you learn anything today? But not my mother. "Izzy," she would say, "did you ask a good question today?" That difference — asking good questions — made me become a scientist.

But in introducing me simultaneously to skepticism and to wonder, they taught me the two uneasily cohabiting modes of thought that are central to the scientific method.

Although in every age there have been those who cultivated astronomy, either by... observations... or by theories and systems made up according to the state of understanding of any period, or by a talent for exposition, yet the lucubrations of all these astronomers do not reveal the ways of the heaven any more than they reveal the skill and experience of their progenitors in geometrical matters.

I studied astronomy because it was an opportunity that I could not miss and a challenge that I wanted to take up. Madagascar needed young experts in this field given its involvement in the South African SKA project as an African partner country during South Africa's bid to host SKA, the future largest observatory in the world. Today, astronomy has also become my great passion.

Could not a boy be taught the elements of astronomy at the sole cost of using his eyes and his brain; taught slowly, certainly, and not wearied with too much at once? Some would learn more than others; but all would learn something. This is real science, real knowledge, which will make a boy wiser, and probably better too. He will learn to observe carefully, and not to be deceived, as we sometimes are, by appearances.

I actually wanted to be an astronaut more than an astronomer for a quite a long time. Then I learned this would require I somehow become a US citizen (at the time Brits could not be ESA Astronauts because of the UK’s refusal to fund the human spaceflight part of ESA – although this has recently changed), and I also discovered how much detail I would be required to know about the space shuttle and just how fit I would have to be. I’m not really a detail oriented person, and I’m not that keen on the gym, so I gently switched my goal to becoming an astronomer! This also has the advantage of letting me keep my feet on the ground!

When we’re in scientist mode, we refuse to let our ideas become ideologies. We don’t start with answers or solutions; we lead with questions and puzzles. We don’t preach from intuition; we teach from evidence. We don’t just have healthy skepticism about other people’s arguments; we dare to disagree with our own arguments. Thinking like a scientist involves more than just reacting with an open mind. It means being actively open-minded. It requires searching for reasons why we might be wrong — not for reasons why we must be right — and revising our views based on what we learn.

I was always a curious child and used to ask a lot of questions about everything – from why birds sing and fly, to why it gets dark at night. I always wanted to understand how things came into existence. I was particularly active in science experiments in the primary school, and that led me to choose science for my secondary education and later university education. I guess it was a natural response to my curious mind and quest to know!

It is remarkable how much of the utilised information men possess has been derived from the observations of astronomers. The mechanism of the universe was known before Harvey discovered the circulation of the blood, or Watt constructed a steam engine. The astronomers seem to have been the pioneers of every branch of human knowledge. The Old and the New Testament open astronomically: "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth" (Gen., i., I). "The wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, where is He that is born King of Jews? for we have seen His star in the east" (Matt., ii., 2). It must be remembered that the science of astronomy in one important respect differs from all other sciences. Astronomers are observers only - they ascertain causes by watching effects. They cannot interfere with or alter the causes in operation.

Mas quando anunciei que queria ser astrônomo, recebi apoio incondicional — mesmo que eles (como eu) só tivessem uma idéia muito rudimentar da profissão de astrônomo. Nunca sugeriram que, consideradas as circunstâncias, talvez fosse melhor eu ser médico ou advogado.

Astronomy was born of superstition, eloquence of ambition, hatred, falsehood and flattery; geometry of avarice; physics of an idle curiosity; and even moral philosophy of human pride. Thus the arts and sciences owe their birth to our vices

Before coming to South Africa, I had very little knowledge about astronomy. At the time, there were no such subjects at university. My knowledge of astronomy was therefore limited to what I had learned in secondary school during geography lessons and through documentaries I had watched.

Nothing predestined me to become an astronomer. I moved to Antananarivo for my university studies at the Faculty of Sciences at the University of Antananarivo. I obtained a master's degree in energy physics from the physics department in 2007.