SCIENCE AND SCIENTISTS For many years I was under the impression that if someone’s knowledge had acquired recognition – in the form of university tenure, awards, publications, a position of authority, or respect of his peers – then that knowledge was beyond question, and I could accept that person’s teachings as “gospel”. That trust in expert knowledge was rapidly dissipated when I entered into a career as a NASA research scientist. Within the first few months of my employment, I was called into a presentation on helicopter aerodynamics to be given by the head of the chemistry department of a large eastern university. He proceeded to inform us with a straight face that helicopter lift was actually due to an agitation of air similar to the water motion induced by the agitator in a clothes washer, while he displayed a series of equations to support his theory. Apparently, he did not realize that the theory of helicopter ...
Blasting Away in the Neighborhood In my previous post I wrote about our neighbor across the street – the one who has a monster fish aquarium in her living room. Her son Austin is a nice young man, but he has a pick-up truck that is not so nice. He has customized it in a strange way. His mother parks her car in their driveway, and he parks his truck in the grass between their driveway and Sam's lawn. One evening when Sam and I were sitting on his porch, regaling each other with anecdotes about events that occurred 60 years ago, I was suddenly scared out of my wits by what sounded like a cannon firing right behind my back. I jumped up a couple of inches, and then flopped back down, still shaking a bit. Sam was as calm as a cucumber. He chuckled, and ex...
Neighbors Many decades ago, when this neighborhood was still under construction; the existing houses being rapidly occupied, and new homes, being built, that this was not an especially friendly neighborhood. We were all new to each other, and were hesitant to ask the kinds of questions that would lead to real familiarity. But all of that changed when Sam Harvey moved in. He has that kind of natural outgoing personality that makes him eager to meet new people. And so, he became a kind of one man welcoming committee. If the family moving in were not using professional movers, Sam would go and offer to help move the furniture into the house. He would introduce himself, and tell the new neighbors a few relevant facts about the existing neighbors. Then, when the opportunity arose, he would introduce them to each other. Some of the newcomers picked up immediately on Sam's friendliness, being happy to have a contact in their new environment. Others chos...
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