Sputnik and science
Fifty years ago today, the Soviet Union launched the first artificial Earth satellite, Sputnik. The incident so disturbed U.S. leaders that the country began a crash course of encouraging students to study science and math lest we fall behind the Soviets in that Cold War era.
To a certain extent, it worked, at least for a while. One of the most striking things about the astronauts who lost their lives in the Columbia disaster was the level of scientific expertise they represented collectively and individually. If I remember correctly, the least credentialed member of that crew was still an M.D. On the other hand, today we are experiencing a shortage of scientists, and people who misrepresent science, if not actually lie about it, hold sway over a substantial percentage of the population.
Science is more important today than ever, and it would be nice if today's anniversary sparks some discussion about that fact and what we can do to address it.
