Our new "Believer in Science" t-shirt, a companion to the "Believe in Science" shirt is one of four new shirts on sale at Progresswear through the end of the month.The science shirts are designed in such a manner that the punch line "in Science" cannot be read until you get close to the wearer. From a distance one assumes that they're being approached by yet another individual proselytizing their beliefs. The "IN SCIENCE" caveat will get a second reaction of surprise as the message isn't what they're expecting.
There's been a war on science brewing in this country for years. From the rise of the Christian Right and its attendant home schooling to Bush's refusal to acknowledge myriad scientific truths, this is a war between reason and superstition. The times are changing and the tides are changing. Our favorite customer, Jennifer Miller of the famed Dover Intelligent Design trial and many other science teachers of my acquaintance are not allowed to teach basic scientific truths lest they ruffle the feathers of even one parent.
The belief in the promise of science was a religion itself through the first half of this century. And while it's unfortunate that it spawned both the atom bomb and the Flowbee, no one can question the impact science has had on our lives. Stem Cell Research holds a near biblical promise to cure the sick and make the lame walk.
Yet we do little to encourage the study of science in our classrooms. Post 9.11 hysteria has made it so difficult for foreign students - the bulk of our university science population - to study there that they're choosing, for the first time, Europe over America to study science. As the best and brightest choose to go elsewhere, America's leadership in Science will abruptly cease.
With the superiority our manufacturing economy a distant memory it is essential that our ability to address the scientific questions of the day grows with each generation. With our need to solve global warming, find clean alternative fuels and reinvent our systems of transportation and energy use alone, massive employment awaits a new generation of green scientists. Our ability to even approach GNPs of past decades is dependent upon still having great ideas. Trusting science. Believing in Science.
