Comments on: Science: Not for Normal People? http://geoffhutchison.net/blog/archives/2006/02/22/science-not-for-normal-people/ Geoff Hutchison's personal weblog on chemistry, nanotechnology, science, books, life and software development -- in no particular order. Sun, 20 Jul 2008 21:41:42 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.2-alpha By: Narsi http://geoffhutchison.net/blog/archives/2006/02/22/science-not-for-normal-people/#comment-1626 Narsi Fri, 12 May 2006 18:54:33 +0000 http://geoffhutchison.net/blog/?p=76#comment-1626 Nice article...I'm from India, and like everyone else in the world, we read a lot about the American education system and the constant stream of article which complain that Americans are not performing well enough in science and math...I sure think there is some disconnect Because, as you pointed out, USA churns out the largest number of Nobel Laureates ( and the Nobel Committese does not have any marked preference for Americans, that's pretty well known), the best science colleges and universities are in the US, a large percentage of useful/practical scientific inventions take place in the US, and well, unless the stats quoted by the dismal-sounding articles we keep reading are wrong, a large percentage of America does not do well in science and math. Is it that a small percentage of population do well in science, and they do so exceptionally better than their counterparts in the world? Just curious Your main two points - perception of scientists & monetary incentives - are quite well-made. This I think is a problem not just in America, but in most developed and developing countries. I think the perception problem and the monetary issues are both challenging. And perhaps in a way connected - for instance, if a scientist is perceived on par with a sports celebrity, perhaps the market would be willing to pay him on par with the sportsman as well! Just some thoughts Useful article, thanks NS, http://www.castoroil.in Nice article…I’m from India, and like everyone else in the world, we read a lot about the American education system and the constant stream of article which complain that Americans are not performing well enough in science and math…I sure think there is some disconnect

Because, as you pointed out, USA churns out the largest number of Nobel Laureates ( and the Nobel Committese does not have any marked preference for Americans, that’s pretty well known), the best science colleges and universities are in the US, a large percentage of useful/practical scientific inventions take place in the US, and well, unless the stats quoted by the dismal-sounding articles we keep reading are wrong, a large percentage of America does not do well in science and math. Is it that a small percentage of population do well in science, and they do so exceptionally better than their counterparts in the world? Just curious

Your main two points - perception of scientists & monetary incentives - are quite well-made. This I think is a problem not just in America, but in most developed and developing countries. I think the perception problem and the monetary issues are both challenging. And perhaps in a way connected - for instance, if a scientist is perceived on par with a sports celebrity, perhaps the market would be willing to pay him on par with the sportsman as well!
Just some thoughts

Useful article, thanks

NS, http://www.castoroil.in

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