Engineers in U.S. vs. India

[BillyGOTO]

On Tue, Jan 06, 2004 at 11:39:41AM -0800, Steve Schear wrote:
> At 11:17 AM 1/6/2004, Declan McCullagh wrote:
> >http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-407043,curpg-3.cms
> >
> >Moreover, it is found out that the Americans are shying away from the 
> >challenges of math and science. A recent National Science Foundation Study 
> >reveals a 5 per cent decline in the overall doctoral candidates in the US 
> >over the last five years.

> Not surprising considering the lack of preparation most get today in school.

> 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.

> 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

> We'll probably never know what new ideas were never thought, or were
> greatly delayed, because young minds in science were only channeled
> through the rote of the classroom.

STOP!  We'll DEFINATELY never know.  Don't Rummsfeldize.