My dad is a chemistry teacher, and a chemist by training. Naturally, a son who wound up as a physicist (and a daughter who married a physicist) must be a great disappointment to such a proud man. I’m kidding, of course, except the part about my sister marrying a physicist. […]
Education
71 posts
The Constitution of the United States guarantees that the U.S. government shall not abridge any expression of religion (covered under free speech), nor establish a state religion (the “Establishment Clause”). As “Bob Park”:http://bobpark.physics.umd.edu/WN06/wn092906.html pointed out this week, and as I had heard would happen, the House of Representatives passed a […]
One of the many reasons I am a physicist is the influence of my father. I had previously commented on the role my mother’s father, “pop-pop”, played on my choice to pursue science as part of my life. However, the role my father played in engaging me in challenging questions, […]
I remember learning about AIDS and HIV in grade school. I remember being confused about why there was so much stigma attached to the disease. I have always been, and continue to be, horrified by those who vilify the victims, deny the cause, or refuse to talk about it. It […]
A good friend of mine, Luke, pointed me to an “article posted on Fox News’ website”:http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,199898,00.html a few days ago. With a lot of verbal drama, the article discusses the issue of the landscape for federal college financial aid and the conclusions of the 2005 National Academies study, “Rising Above […]
“Talk of the Nation: Science Friday”:http://www.sciencefriday.com is an excellent weekly national radio program that brings experts and callers together to discuss current science issues. This week, Ira Flatow discussed the politicization of science – the perceived increase in policy influencing science, rather than science influencing policy – with guests Chris […]
Back in October, when Jodi and I were studying for the November special election here in California, I stumbled across an unchallenged rule in this state’s education code. Section 44932, subdivision a, paragraph 10 of the California Education Code states that one of the important grounds upon which a teacher […]
As I recently mentioned [TAOMPH219], a rural public school in California tried to offer intelligent design in the proper context: an elective philosophy course. Unfortunately, the teacher who created the class decided to run it more like a Sunday school – and I mean a fundamentalist Christian Sunday school – […]
With Dover over, I have begin to feel somewhat relieved that the American legal system recognizes that the science class is where science can be taught, and that attempts to inject non-science or religious philosophy requirements into the class are illegal. There is a new case, is my current home […]
The recent “139-page ruling by Judge Jones”:http://www.pamd.uscourts.gov/kitzmiller/kitzmiller_342.pdf in the case *Kitzmiller vs. the Dover School Board of Education* was remarkable. Not just broad, this was a deep ruling which every scientist and lawyer should read. The American Institute of Physics (“http://www.aip.org”:http://www.aip.org) has printed, in its most recent FYI bulletin, “a […]
The BaBar Collaboration meeting is over, and it was as exhausting and fulfilling as I had hoped. Despite the necessary shutdown to address the safety culture at SLAC (which occurred just over a year ago), we have bounced back with enthusiasm and science. The upcoming winter conferences will be a […]
An “article in the AP summarizes the underlying references in this little thought piece”:http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051208/ap_on_re_us/creationism_professor;_ylt=AkmHDJC49ZEp.ORSchKdfP1vzwcF;_ylu=X3oDMTA5aHJvMDdwBHNlYwN5bmNhdA–. Here’s the short of it: * religious studies professor Paul Mirecki, at the University of Kansas, organizes a course entitled “Special Topics in Religion: Intelligent Design, Creationism and other Religious Mythologies”, scientists and educators silently cheer […]