CEI deniers praise Andy Revkin, diss Tiger Woods 9

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1. 

   Paulidan Posted 7:10 pm
   14 Jun 2008

   The Quantum Genius Will Have The Last LaughIts funny to read a journalist deride one of the greatest geniuses of the modern age as a "scientific duffer".
   This is especially after the same reporter should have noticed the flooding devastation in middle America caused by the coldest winter since 1992, the winter after Pinatubo erupted.
   http://www.spaceweather.com
   tick tock, tick tock, the sun is catching up with you...

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2. 

   caniscandida Posted 7:18 pm
   14 Jun 2008

   Hurray Dolly Parton!(who does harmony vocals with Emmylou Harris, in the song "Gold," in the latter's deep new album, "All I Intended to Be."  The two "Trio" albums, collaborations of Dolly, Emmylou and Linda Ronstadt, from back in the 1980s, are classic.)
   It is terrificly ironic that scientists should be accused of being "priests" (as though that were a dirty word) for making recommendations -- when of course science is popularly confused with technology, and especially with technological "advances," technological "progress," i.e. what is "good" for us.
   So, in some contexts, scientists are encouraged to do all the recommending that they want, but in others they must keep silent?
   
   Chickens deserve our true friendship! So do fish! So do other sentient beings! Let us learn to be kind.

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3. 

   billgee Posted 10:39 pm
   14 Jun 2008

   DysonDyson was a scientist during one of the most important times in nuclear history. And an important one. That he chooses to use that weight in a later age, for a different reason is unfortunate.
   Teller and Fuller did it as well.  Depending on which side of the fence youre on, the super or the yurt, you may cheer or boo.  
   But Dyson was an important man in his time.
   the times they are a changin'

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4. 

   apsmith Posted 11:24 pm
   14 Jun 2008

   He's not on those lists because he's *old*Joe - I respect you, but I also respect Dyson for his great contributions to physics many decades ago. The Tiger Woods of physics of recent history was, almost without question, Richard Feynman; Feynman developed his own approach to quantum electrodynamics that has become an extremely useful calculating tool (Feynman diagrams) in the 1950's; around the same time the traditional quantum mechanics people (Schwinger) developed their more mathematical-looking perturbation theory approach. Dyson was the one who proved the two methods were equivalent, essentially by putting Feynman's diagrams on a firm theoretical footing, and one of the fundamental equations still used in quantum field theory is the Dyson equation.
   So Dyson isn't Tiger, no. But he wasn't far off in his prime about 40-50 years ago. Now, well, he's like many of those curmudgeonly old physicists - in fact I suspect he was good friends with Frederick Seitz as they're both Princetonites. There are Dysons and Seitz's and Roy Spencer's who we just have to deal with somehow or other. Denigrating their past contributions is probably not the best approach...

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5. 

   Erik Hoffner Posted 1:29 am
   15 Jun 2008

   technologyThanks, Canis, that's a good point. Science and technology are not the same thing, and it seems to me folks generally have an affinity for technology and are lukewarm on science. Technology brings gadgetry, the plain-sight frills of science, really, the GPS unit that will help you find home, while science is harder to pin down, but brings us understanding and advances in standards of living, etc.
   We've got to dream up new ways to bring scientific truths out. The climate debate will benefit.  
   Erik
   
   The Orion Grassroots Network: 1,200+ grassroots groups working for conservation & more
   
   

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6. 

   Easterbunny Posted 5:24 am
   15 Jun 2008

   fix science education thenThe route of the problem is that science education in the US is totally broken.
   Here's a useful primer on how to fix it:
   
   http://coehp.uark.edu/pase/TheMythsOfScience.pdf
   
   

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7. 

   Easterbunny Posted 9:54 am
   15 Jun 2008

   ooopsEnglish language Education might need fixing too. I meant "root of the problem" of course.

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8. 

   Russ Posted 6:29 pm
   15 Jun 2008

   obituaryBut Dyson was an important man in his time.
   It reminds me of Mencken's obit for William Jennings Bryan: It's a tragedy when a man spends his career as a hero and ends it as a buffoon.
   Same thing's been true for Nader for awhile now.
   
   

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9. 

   hapa Posted 7:01 pm
   15 Jun 2008

   nader quixotic not buffoonalthough i support ralph's political career, if you can call it that, i know he's not the kind of person people really imagine when they picture the president -- but i don't think it's quite fair to describe his writings or proposals as laughable. they're solid, and if you throw them away because he spits at a lot of democrats, you might not end up electing someone who would help you get those things.

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