Steve brings us some important issues. Even a few crypto-related issues, later. At 7:08 PM -0800 12/5/96, Steve Schear wrote:
When I was doing my undergraduate work several of us built a heat-seeking and homing circuit which we subsequently tested in a small (24-inch) solid .... functioning testbed. I did quite a bit of serious amateur rocketry in my teen years through the Northrup Rocketry Club (So. Cal) and launches at a site near Edwards AFB (they were happy to track our launches and make sure .... I'm certain I and many of my friends got much of our interest for math and science and subsequent academic success from such hands-on activities which were encouraged or supported by teachers, parents, corporations and the government. We were forced to solve real chemistry, math, engineering, physics and material science problems. This has all vanished is our zeal to protect youth and society from any activity which might lead injury or misuse. I can't even find a place to buy a niece a real chemistry set as tort laws have forced them from the market. When considering the plumeting interest and achievement of our youth in math and science we look nor further for a reason.
I never was seriously into rockets, but I sure was heavily into Gilbert chemistry sets, making low-grade explosives, etc., and, as I shifted into physics (around the 8th grade), into Tesla coils, radio emissions, plasmas, tunnel diodes, etc. (Tunnel diodes may seem low-tech to you Gen-X folks, given that Esaki's invention never really changed the world as transistors did, but it was amazing to me as a 10th grader to be experimenting with "quantum tunneling." Your mileage may vary.) I'm not sure if Gilbert chemistry sets went off the market for liablity reasons, or for "lack of interest." The "4-banger" I had in 1961, supplemented with varius Bunsen burners, arc furnaces, Erlenmayer flasks, and whatnot, was amazing for its time. (And not terribly expensive, in case some of the "social democrats" on this list are thinking I lived a (I used to lie in bed at night, after my eyes adjusted to total darkness, watching through the lens on my Gilbert "spinthariscope," watching the flashes and trails of alpha particles striking the scintillator screen. Little did I know then that these same alpha particles would make my career 15 years later.) I believe there have been roughly (very roughly) three genarations of "science kids": * Generation 1: The kids of the 1920s-40s. The Ernest Lawrences and the Robert Noyces, who grew up on farms, repairing tractors and farm machinery. They learned about machinery at a direct level. These were the giants of the post-war science community, and the founders of modern American chip companies. * Generation 2: The Sputnik generation, of the 1950s-60s. They grew up with Gilbert chemistry sets, Erector sets, "All About" books, and with constant exposure to nuclear physics, relativily, molecular biology, etc. These were the workers who staffed the companies formed by the Noyces and Moores of the world, and the young scientists who pioneered the use of computers. * Generation 3: The computer generation. The 1970s-80s, who grew up with Commodore PETs and Apple IIs (and some later machines). These are the "new pioneers" of the 1980s-90s, the Marc Andreesens and the like. (I could imagine expanding this to 4 or 5 "generations," but I think you get the point. Being 44 years old, and almost 45, I claim no knowledge about what the "latest generation" is all about. Maybe it's the "Beavis and Butthead" generation...I don't know.) --Tim May Just say "No" to "Big Brother Inside" We got computers, we're tapping phone lines, I know that that ain't allowed. ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---- Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay@got.net 408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets, Higher Power: 2^1398269 | black markets, collapse of governments. "National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."