Chemistry Nobel Laureate Sir Harold Kroto told the audience at yesterday’s “Science Communication for All” symposium that he went to secondary school with the renowned actor, Sir Ian McKellen. “I taught Sir Ian everything he knows,” Kroto joked before launching into the most vibrant and engaging talk I’ve seen at AAAS.
Kroto is worried about how people perceive science, particularly in the U.S. “I think you’ve got a massive problem in this country,” he said. To illustrate his point, Kroto showed a clip from C-SPAN of Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) speaking to a group of teenagers. A young man asks Lott what advice he has for aspiring politicians. Lott tells the teenager to make the most of his education, adding that the U.S. has wonderful educational resources.
The exchange seems pretty rote until Lott adds that he thinks the four years of math and science he was required to take as a student was “a waste of time and a waste of space.” The assembled teens applaud, and Lott suggests that economics, typing, or music might be more valuable.
“What a lot of crap,” declared Kroto, articulating what seemed to be the sentiment of the symposium’s attendees.
Kroto went on to discuss his work with the Vega Science Trust (C&EN, May 6, 2002, page 53), which broadcasts free science programs over the Internet. The project, he hopes, will help to dispel the misconceptions youngsters have about science and scientists.
Kroto has traveled round the world speaking to children as part of the Vega project. He closed his talk with a video from a trip he took to Malaysia in which a several of the gathered children balance buckyball molecular models on their heads.—Bethany Halford, filed at 8:20 AM CST