A Fool and his Words are Soon Parted

How to Build American Science February 8, 2006

From Meeting the Challenge of a Changing World: Strengthening Education For the 21st Century:

Our educational leadership has been challenged as well, with many developed nations’ students outperforming ours in international tests, particularly in math and science. These test scores are linked to a lack of challenging course work, an ominous sign for many American schools. The impact may be felt well into the future: According to some estimates, America’s share of the world’s science and engineering doctorates is predicted to fall to 15 percent by 2010.

Interesting in its juxstaposition is the recent resignation of George Deutsch, President Bush’s 24 year-old appointee as Press Officer for NASA. Even more interesting are some of Mr. Deutsch’s writings prior to his appointment, which are highlighted here.

We are falling in our share of science and engineering doctorates, but we are learning that a strong science background does not appear to be a requirement to be NASA’s Press Officer. Strange. It appears that the science requirements at a red brick house (mine) are a bit more stringent than those at the White one.