Inaugural Address

I generally keep this blog apolitical, but it's hard not to be excited with the historic inauguration of President Barack Obama. I'll try to keep my comments science-related, at least.

I was surprised that President Obama mentioned science in his inaugural address. I wondered how common that was, so I searched recent inaugural addresses for the word "science." Well, I found lots of mentions of "conscience," but I had to go back to Richard Nixon's first inaugural address to find the word "science."

Here is the quote from Nixon: "The second third of this century has been a time of proud achievement. We have made enormous strides in science and industry and agriculture." But don't be fooled; Nixon was not upbeat about these enormous strides. In fact, he says that due to our advancements, "We have found ourselves rich in goods, but ragged in spirit; reaching with magnificent precision for the moon, but falling into raucous discord on earth." At that time, like today, there was a long and unpopular war going on and there was a troubled economy.

Although the times are similar, the attitude of the new president is not the same. By contrast, this is what Obama said in his inaugural address: "We will restore science to its rightful place,* and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. All this we will do." Now that's an attitude toward science and education that a science educator can get behind! Let's do it!

*_{I hope he agrees with me about its rightful place!}