Lisa Randal on her new book, Knocking on Heaven's Door: How Physics and Scientific Thinking Illuminate the Universe and the Modern World
Tavis: Let me ask another broad question, then I’ll come back inside the book with more specificity. How concerned are you, to the extent you’re concerned at all, that we are losing ground in our country on science in that the data seem to suggest that our students are not being drawn like a magnet to math and science, and what do you make of all that?
Randall: I think it’s definitely an important issue and it’s particularly an issue with engineering, I believe. I still see some great students. But there’s something even more general that worries me, which is just I think we’re losing a respect for science and just rational thinking and numbers, and just the scientific method, and you see that not just in science, but you see that in policy debates. The fact that people are almost embarrassed to talk about scientific measurements or scientific facts, and I think that’s a greater danger for our country. I think, of course, valuing science and scientific thinking is also important, and I’m glad you bring that up. It’s definitely true.
But I think that we still have many exceptional students in this country who will do great things in science. It is true not all of them will go into science, and probably at a lower rate than before, and that’s definitely something we want to pay attention to, and we want to pay attention to investing in science, investing in education, investing in infrastructure. But just more generally, people should stop being afraid of thinking in a scientific, rational manner.
Tavis: Let me ask another broad question, then I’ll come back inside the book with more specificity. How concerned are you, to the extent you’re concerned at all, that we are losing ground in our country on science in that the data seem to suggest that our students are not being drawn like a magnet to math and science, and what do you make of all that?
Randall: I think it’s definitely an important issue and it’s particularly an issue with engineering, I believe. I still see some great students. But there’s something even more general that worries me, which is just I think we’re losing a respect for science and just rational thinking and numbers, and just the scientific method, and you see that not just in science, but you see that in policy debates. The fact that people are almost embarrassed to talk about scientific measurements or scientific facts, and I think that’s a greater danger for our country. I think, of course, valuing science and scientific thinking is also important, and I’m glad you bring that up. It’s definitely true.
But I think that we still have many exceptional students in this country who will do great things in science. It is true not all of them will go into science, and probably at a lower rate than before, and that’s definitely something we want to pay attention to, and we want to pay attention to investing in science, investing in education, investing in infrastructure. But just more generally, people should stop being afraid of thinking in a scientific, rational manner.
Watch Physicist Lisa Randall on PBS. See more from Tavis Smiley.
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