Engineers in U.S. vs. India

Steve Schear s.schear at comcast.net
Tue Jan 6 13:27:09 PST 2004


At 01:05 PM 1/6/2004, BillyGOTO wrote:
>On Tue, Jan 06, 2004 at 11:39:41AM -0800, Steve Schear wrote:
> > As has been discussed on this list many who graduated college before the
> > late '70s were able to pursue independent science experimentation (esp.
> > chemistry and rocketry, etc.).
>
> > Now almost all science can only be learned in the classroom.
>
>What's your motivation for saying that?!
>
>Are you saying that new science has gone too far ahead of the layman's
>understanding, that tools are expensive/inaccessible, or that knowledge
>is being hoarded by a conspiracy of Illuminati scientists?  I don't buy
>it.  Nature is still out there to be studied by those willing to look.

Just try setting up a well-equipped personal chem. lab w/o inviting a visit 
from the BATF or FBI.  Its next to impossible for minors to purchase 
chemical reagents, I had no trouble in the 60s.

Try building and finding a place to launch an amateur rocket (it can be 
done, but now only with the greatest of regulatory red tape).  I did.  Some 
of my group's rockets achieved heights over 100,000 ft (confirmed by 
Edward's AFB radar.)

Try doing independent research in bacterial or viral genetics and see who 
shows up on your doorstep.


> > Many of the greatest scientific break throughs were made by amateurs.
>
>who are alive and well, AFAICT...
>
>         http://www.sas.org
>
>What about:
>
>         ftp://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/pub/astro/SL9/animations/keck-R.mpg

Notice that none of the science avenues presented are the one's I've discussed.

steve 





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