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http://sociology.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/power/wealth.html
for starters.
"The paradox is this: as a lingering result of the golden age, we still
have the finest scientists in the world in the United States. But we also
have the worst science education in the industrialized world."
I assume the above is the quote. Did I disagree w/ it?
Of course teaching has changed. especially after about 1960. I have a
HS lab manual (Millikan ca. 1910). many of the xpts. and their format
are the same as I did in HS and as a freshman at UCSB. Current ones
are different, but still lectures reign supreme. That's what I
meant. I disagree w/ his crunch analogy -- inflation then stasis is
more accurate. His mining one is quite apt. That's the way it's been
'till recently all over the world. Now "we" expect to teach all instead
of a few with the expected result. As I've posted before, immediately
after sputnik the freshman class at UCSB more than doubled; the
sophomore class was back to normal.
His reason for improving sci. ed. is quite admirable -- necessary for a
"Jeffersonian Demo." My belief is forget it.
bc
p.s. here's an example of the problem the rulers would have from an
enlightened populace. Remember the liquid bomb scare? supposedly, and
the chemist member can confirm or refute this, the reaction to make the
bomb takes about 30 minutes and may prematurely explode being a
"fizzle". Can you imagine someone successfully doing this in a crowded
plane?
One version:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/08/17/flying_toilet_terror_labs/
another view:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/08/10/uchemical.xml