I am pleased to have him here
and I also take note
of the fact that he is the David Duncan professor
of Astronomy and Space Sciences
and director
of the laboratory for Planetary Studies
at Cornell University
distinguished visiting scientist
at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory
California Institute of Technology
and co-founder and president
of The Planetary Society
the largest space interest group
in the world
and a former Pulitzer Prize winner.
Welcome back, sir.
Thank you, sir.
Great to see you.
Listen to this
I hate to read too much
but this is almost like
they've been reading your book.
This is from The New York Times
for Friday May 24–
'Americans flunk science'
a study finds.
Less than half of all
American adults understand–
that the Earth orbits the sun yearly
according to a basic science survey.
Only about 25% of American adults
get passing grades in a
National Science Foundation survey
of what people know about
basic science and economics.
I mean
this is singing your song, isn't it?
We live in an age
based on science and technology
with formidable technological powers.
Science and technology
are propelling us forward
at accelerating rates.
That's right
and if we don't understand it
and by "we" I mean the general public–
if it's something that
'Oh, I'm not good at that
I don't know anything about it'
then who is making
all the decisions about
science and technology
that are gonna determine
what kind of future
our children live in?
Just–
some members of Congress?
But there's no more than a handful
of members of Congress with any
background in science at all
and the Republican Congress has
just abolished its own office
of technology assessment
the organization that gave them
bipartisan, competent advice
on science and technology
they say
'We don't want to know.
Don't tell us about science and technology.'
Surprising–
because Gingrich is generally interested I think
He is, no question
in these kinds of things
no question.
out of his own intellectual curiosity.
Does the president still have a science advisor?
He does. He does
John Gibbons
and the vice president
is scientifically literate
yes.
What's the danger of all this?
I mean, this is not the thing that–
There's two kinds of dangers.
One is what I just talked about
that we've arranged a society based on
science and technology
in which nobody understands anything
about science and technology, and this
combustible mixture of ignorance and power
sooner or later is going to blow up in our faces.
I mean
who is running the science and technology
in a democracy
if the people don't know anything about it?
And the second reason
that I'm worried about this is that
Science is more than a body of knowledge
it's a way of thinking.
A way of skeptically interrogating the universe
with a fine understanding of human fallibility.
If we are not able to ask skeptical questions
to interrogate those who tell us that something is true
to be skeptical of those in authority
Then we're up for grabs
for the next charlatan–political or religious–
who comes ambling along.
It's a thing that Jefferson lay great stress on.
It wasn't enough, he said, to enshrine some rights
in a Constitution or a Bill of Rights
The people had to be educated
and they had to practice their skepticism
and their education
otherwise
we don't run the government–
the government runs us.
Jefferson was amazing
in his devotion to science.
We think of Jefferson as this man
Absolutely–
who was literate
and who was a
passionate
articulator of freedom.
But if you go to Monticello–
exactly–
what you appreciate
is he was at heart
a scientist, a botanist, an architect
geologist–
geologist–
and if you–Meriwether Lewis–
As we know now from Stephen Ambrose
He wanted him to go out
and do experimentation
and explore
and be skeptical
and find answers
to passages
and explore The West.
Exactly right.
And
there was also an economic
grail there if the
Northwest Passage was found.
Jefferson said
that he was at heart a scientist
that he would have loved to have been a scientist
but there were certain events
happening in America
that called to him
and so he devoted his life
to that kind of politics.
A revolution–
Indeed.
So that
generations later
people could be scientists.
The point is made
and maybe by you, is that
'When is the last time we had a president who made a speech about science?'
I say that.
It is this notion that
science is not of great interest to us
in some sense that that somehow
we don't want to learn.
You see
people
read stock market quotations
and financial pages.
Look how complex that is.
Because they know
the direct connection to their own–
There's a motivation
but they're capable.
Large numbers of people.
People are able to
look at sports statistics.
Look how many people can do that.
Understanding science is not
more difficult than that
it doesn't involve greater
intellectual activities.
But the thing about science
is first of all
it's after the way the universe really is
and not what makes us feel good.
Who is more humble–
the scientist who looks at the universe
with an open mind and
accepts whatever the universe has to teach us?
Or somebody who says
everything in this book
must be considered
the literal truth
and never mind the fallibility
of all the human beings involved
in the writing of this book?
You convinced me a long time ago
that it was arrogant
for me or for anyone else
to believe that there wasn't some
life outside of our–
To exclude the possibility
To exclude the possibility
was an arrogance of intellect
that we should not subsume
I still believe that.
You couldn't prove it
you didn't know it was there
but the arrogance
Right.
We don't know if it's there
we don't know if it's not there.
Let's look.
and if you take that
why can't you say
'There's a lot we don't know,
there's a lot of power there–
I say it.
Here, watch.
There is a lot we don't know!
One thing that it has done
is to enhance my
sense of appreciation
for the the beauty of
Life
and of the Universe
and the sheer joy of being alive.
Every inanimate object
and to say nothing of the
exquisite
complexity of living beings.
Yeah
you imagine missing it all
and suddenly it's
so much more precious.
– Subtitles by JRC –
