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Category Archives: Social commentary
Scientists Should March
Scientists are planning a “March for Science” in Washington, DC and many other cities on 22 April 2017. Some commentators seem to think this is a bad idea, because it would politicize science. Before I continue, let me suggest the … Continue reading
Posted in Politics, Science, Skepticism, Social commentary
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What is the nature of the STEM crisis?
There is a recent National Science Foundation report out that says, over the decade from 1993 to 2013, the number of college graduates in science and engineering fields grew faster than the number of graduates in any other fields. By … Continue reading
Posted in Politics, Science, Social commentary
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Vhonn/Brawn (what could we do?)
Wernher von Braun is one of the lions of the early American space program: a pioneer who engineered our initial forays into orbit, our steps onto the surface of the moon, and our designs for space stations and Martian colonies. … Continue reading
Posted in Art, Politics, Social commentary
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Visionaries
The Space Review has a fantastic article that invaded my whole way of thinking this morning while I was trying to get into my groove for work. It casts the golden age of space exploration – the Space Race – … Continue reading
Posted in Concepts, Politics, Social commentary, Space
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Despite tactical errors, Bill Nye is right
Tuesday night, Bill Nye (the Science Guy) had a webcast debate with Ken Ham, founder of the Creation Museum. In many respects, this was a silly idea. Nye wasn’t going to change any minds, and I think he fell into … Continue reading
Posted in Science, Skepticism, Social commentary
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Climbing
It seems that being at Williams College again for only a weekend is enough to prompt a little self-reflection. I returned to my alma mater for the 2013 commencement exercises. The graduating seniors seemed like a powerhouse of innovation, leadership, … Continue reading
Posted in Social commentary, Space, Williams
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Quantitative Revolution
We’re going through an interesting sort of revolution in America. One after another, various disciplines are realizing (or, it’s coming out publicly that they have realized) that math is useful for stuff. Wherever there is data available, a scientific, quantitative approach … Continue reading
Posted in Politics, Science, Social commentary
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The Most Important Issue
I’ve seen some political surveys recently that ask respondents to pick the most important issue to them from a predefined list, and I’ve never had any of these lists include what I think is the most important issue facing our … Continue reading
Posted in Politics, Science, Skepticism, Social commentary
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They’ve Still Got It
I pulled my car into my lot today, and as I walked over to the mailbox, I passed three young kids from the apartment complex. One of them asks me, “do you work for NASA?!” (There’s a NASA meatball sticker on … Continue reading
Posted in NASA, Social commentary
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I don’t know what we want to be any more
My job is to explore space. The work I do, day to day, involves figuring out how to get space probes to exotic parts of our Solar System, so that scientists can investigate the inner workings of the planets and … Continue reading →