AMERICAN SCIENCE IS IN TROUBLE

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BENNETT GORDON, UTNE - Science in the United States is in trouble. "The
numbers indicate that the American scientist population is not healthy,"
writes Marc Zimmer for Inside Higher Ed, "especially not in comparison
to scientists in other countries." Only 13 percent of US graduate
degrees are in the sciences, as opposed to 40 percent of degrees in
Japan, South Korea, Sweden, and Switzerland. Numbers like these make
Zimmer wonder if the American scientist is quickly becoming "an
endangered species."

The blame for science's drop in popularity, according to Zimmer, can be
squarely placed on a culture that does not respect the "authority and
autonomy of science." Creationism and other "pseudosciences" are
undermining the institution as a whole, and Americans just don't seem to
care. "There are no modern Einsteins," Zimmer points out, "gracing the
cover of Rolling Stone.". . .

http://www.utne.com/webwatch/2007_307/news/12653-1.html

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