So let’s say it’s January 2009, and you’re the Science Advisor for the President of these United States. What can you tell him he can do to support science?
The Hive Overmind – I mean, Discover Magazine - was wondering the same thing, so they created Discover’s Science Policy Project, giving “the country’s most celebrated scientists and thinkers the chance to respond to the following question:”
What are the three most important things the next president can do to positively impact scientific research in the United States?
I may not be a celebrated scientist or thinker, but I have done science and I do occasionally think, so I’m guessing that’s why they asked me to contribute. My full answer is on DM’s Reality Base blog written by Melissa Lafsky.
But here’s the first of my three answers on how the next President can support science:
Stop standing on its throat.
The current administration has spun, folded, and mutilated science and scientific research since practically day one, letting ideology trump reality. If the next president does nothing but let science do its thing unfettered, then the situation will be dramatically improved.
Go check out the rest over at Melissa’s place.
