The Art of Science

For the first time I understand what people who have experienced the words of great leaders mean when words fail them and they can't seem to convey what it was that overtook them in the experience. Yesterday, Fearless Leader gave a speech to the National Academy of Sciences, the content of which moved me, in heart as well as mind, truly and deeply. While it may well have been a lack of sleep and blood sugar, as I sat there in Aston, PA on the morning of April 27, 2009 and listened I could only find one sentence that seemed appropriate to say.

"He understands!"

That was the only reaction I could manage at the moment but, I tell you truly, in that moment I felt something I hadn't experienced in years, since my departure from military service. I felt a quality of inspiration and loyalty whereby, had he asked it, I could have moved the sun in it's course. Laugh if you like but I tell you, I would have given (and still would) whatever service was asked, with a pride and joy I had thought myself quite emptied of. I was 18 again and ready to storm the gates of Hell and quite thoroughly convinced that I could.

I'd like to post the entire thing here, but I know people have limits. So I'll stick to what I think are the most important points and encourage you view the entire thing for yourselves.

I'll start at the end, of course. Towards the end of his address, Fearless Leader said something which reverberated deeply with me:

"And some truths fill us with awe. Others force us to question long-held views. Science can’t answer every question, and indeed, it seems at times the more we plumb the mysteries of the physical world, the more humble we must be. Science cannot supplant our ethics or our values, our principles or our faith. But science can inform those things and help put those values — these moral sentiments, that faith — can put those things to work — to feed a child, or to heal the sick, to be good stewards of this Earth."
-President Barack H. Obama, 04/27/09

Now anyone who knows me passing well or has familiarity with this blog will know by now that I, for one, don't go in for the superstitious rot. The way I refer to it (as superstitious rot) should give away my opinion. What the man has said here, however, I can live with that. I, personally, think that science, properly applied can provide us all the answers. I also understand that lots of people don't agree with me and I'm okay with that. All I ask is that you don't try and force the rest of us to play by rules you can't prove.

Possibly the most moving part of his speech was his referring to the Apollo 8 mission, during which Bill Anders took the now famous 'Earthrise' picture. Anders later said something that was one of those exquisitely rare, transformative utterances.

"In 1968, a year defined by loss and conflict and tumult, Apollo 8 carried into space the first human beings ever to slip beyond Earth’s gravity, and the ship would circle the moon 10 times before returning home. But on its fourth orbit, the capsule rotated and for the first time Earth became visible through the windows.
Bill Anders, one of the astronauts aboard Apollo 8, scrambled for a camera, and he took a photo that showed the Earth coming up over the moon’s horizon. It was the first ever taken from so distant a vantage point, and it soon became known as “Earthrise.”
Anders would say that the moment forever changed him, to see our world — this pale blue sphere — without borders, without divisions, at once so tranquil and beautiful and alone.
“We came all this way to explore the moon,” he said, “and the most important thing is that we discovered the Earth.” "
-President Barack H. Obama, 04/27/09

Words will never suffice to express the feelings this photo and that single statement engender in me. It possibly the only thing that has ever caused me to feel such joy as to bring tears to my eyes and pain to my heart. To look upon my world, my home, as it truly is...words fail me.

Of no less import was the eloquently stated argument to renew public investment in basic and applied research:

"This is important right now, as public and private colleges and universities across the country reckon with shrinking endowments and tightening budgets. But this is also incredibly important for our future. As Vannevar Bush, who served as scientific advisor to President Franklin Roosevelt, famously said: “Basic scientific research is scientific capital.”

The fact is an investigation into a particular physical, chemical, or biological process might not pay off for a year, or a decade, or at all. And when it does, the rewards are often broadly shared, enjoyed by those who bore its costs but also by those who did not.

And that’s why the private sector generally under-invests in basic science, and why the public sector must invest in this kind of research — because while the risks may be large, so are the rewards for our economy and our society."
-President Barack H. Obama, 04/27/09

So many people in these United States do not understand exactly how good science happens. They don't even understand the distinction between science and technology. In short, the public grasp of science, what it is, how it is developed and employed is shameful. We have reached a sort of regressive apogee, demonstrating Clark's Third Law. As a general rule, people in this country in this day and age simply don't understand how most of the tools and techniques they take for granted work. Its magic to them, although most wouldn't admit it. This makes the dismal performance statistics cited by Fearless Leader in no way surprising, only deeply depressing and more than a little alarming.

So you can imagine how positively overjoyed I am to know that we're recommitting to actually investing in research again. We have a leader here who understands the national interest. He understands that you cannot back into the future. He understands that you cannot have economy fueled by innovation if all you do is repackage the same technology every year. Yes, it is vital to continue refining existing discoveries but, but...true innovation requires basic research to understand new principles; it isn't enough to just find new applications for old tricks.

Possibly the most inspiring part of the entire shebang is his commitment to revolutionizing how we produce and consume energy. I would liken this challenge to that made by JFK at Rice University. In my writings I have made much of energy; here, perhaps, I take my cue from a man who I am become more proud of each day, who fills me with a furious urgency and vision. A proper mastery of energy, its production and distribution, would transform the entire fabric of not only our nation but the entire species.