He read a fantastic quote from Matthew Chapman, a screenwriter in NYC and apparently great-great-grandson of Charles Darwin:
"...instead of being derided as geeks or nerds, scientists should seen as courageous realists and the last great heroic explorers of the unknown. They should get more money, more publicity, better clothes, more sex, and free rehab when the fame goes to their heads."
Dear scientists of the world,
You will forever and always be among my greatest heroes.
Mooney's talk is interesting enough that I might have to pick up the book. Mostly the discussion is on the level of our country's scientific literacy, or lack thereof. He has a humorous anecdote in regards to science fiction movies. I'm all for including the "impossible" or "unrealistic" in any and all fiction -- after all it's fiction -- but his point that it's neither demonstrative of our actual place in technological history, nor is it exactly respectful of actual science, is apt.
Even more full of awesome, I've been savouring Carl Sagan's Cosmos series on Hulu.com, in order from the beginning and highly, highly recommend watching it again. All these years later the music still kind of blows me away, and the opening scene still fills me with the same awe and wonder I felt as a kid. The power of Carl Sagan, and really any compelling scientist, is how he weaves and wraps philosophy into his science. And in fact, I find the most compelling people in any field do the same.
And even though the material is a little out-dated and unfolds slowly, I'm no less inspired as I sew endless rows while Sagan untangles the mysteries of the universe before my eyes.
millions and trillions and billions of stars;Carl Sagan brings home the unfathomable
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