SCIENCE! I have told this story before, but it bears repeating. The Soviets sent Sputnik up in...

[TreasonousBastard]

1957 and it drove us nuts. We're the US, and we thought we got the best German rocket scientists after the war-- but now these filthy Russians beat us into space?

Can't have that happen.

So, damage have been done, Eisenhower and his top science people ramped up science education so it would never happen again. By the time I got into High School in 1960 my school had received, courtesy of some federal agency, fully equipped science labs-- physics, chemistry, biology, and general science. We also got some bucks to hire science teachers. We even got a "typing lab" with 20 or 30 nice new Selectric typewriters.

Here's the fun part-- it was a conservative Missouri Synod Lutheran high school, complete with morning matins and religion classes. Made no difference, though. We were allowed to not teach the first chapters of the biology text (evolution) and were left alone to otherwise teach science as science. We did not condemn evolution-- just ignored it. It was against the teachings of the church, but not to be rammed down out throats and we could believe or not as our individual consciences decreed. Religion never bothered to enter the physics or chemistry labs.

But, I digress... the point is that Ike, followed by JFK, led the nation into a new era of science education. The sciences were taken seriously as not sidelines, but as fundamental to education as reading or history.

Didn't last long, did it?

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

1. If it was an actual Lutheran run parochial school,

while I think refusing to teach evolution is stupid, but absolutely within their right. The problem is idiot, ignorant religious people have successfully intimidated a lot of public schools to likewise not teach evolution. And that's downright criminal.

What's astonishing is that even now, this country is still a leader in a lot of science, although that could change rather rapidly.

My son is now getting a PhD in astronomy, and I'm encouraging him to seriously take a job elsewhere when he's done. Fortunately, the language of science world wide remains English, so his personal lack of ability at foreign languages (he just barely passed his required high school French) won't be much of a handicap.

[mr_lebowski]

2. Lutheran is among the more progressive sects though ... along w/Episcopal ...

I was in a school run by the Lutheran Church 7-9th grade and we definitely learned evolution ... in fact it was in 8th grade Bio Class in said school that it dawned on me for the first time ... that God is like Santa Claus for grownups.

I've been a devout atheist pretty much since I learned about evolution that day.

[greyl]

3. "It's called Sputknik!"

[JI7]

4. Hopefully with Kamala Harris as VP we can get back to more focus on Science

[struggle4progress]

5. "Whoa! If we teach people to think, they'll begin to think! We can't allow that!"

[Chainfire]

6. I never associated the science lab with the space program

But that is the same time period that a decked-out science lab was built in our rural school. What they failed to provide was a science teacher. Science classes were taught by coaches......I suppose that is why we used to play with mercury, and made whiskey in the lab.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

7. Lol, the two classes taught by coaches at my high school...

... were the two biggest jokes of classes during my time there.

The football coach "taught" a health-class, and the wrestling coach "taught" an electronics class (which was an elective).

The electronics class mostly consisted of kids tossing balls of solder at each other, with some minor fights that erupted which caused tables to get pushed around the room as the wrestling coach leaned back in his chair with a grin.

I was mostly in all of the "Honors" classes, and I sometimes wondered if the other kids were actually learning anything when I had to take classes not designated as such.

[Chainfire]

9. I took and electronics class as a senior in H.S.

We learned how to charge up capacitors so that anyone reaching for one would get the shit shocked out of them.

One of my favorite stories from High School revolves around Physical Science class, taught by a knuckle dragging coach. I could usually be found reading a novel in the back of the class, or making smart remarks.

One morning, he goes back to the lab bench to do an experiment to prove that a flame would not burn in the presence of nitrogen gas. I watch him get out, if I remember correctly, calcium metal turnings and hydrochloride acid and mix it in a beaker. I interrupted his experiment to warn him that he was making an error. He promptly threatened me with a whipping (which was something he excelled at). I shut my mouth and smugly stood by while he stuck a lit match into the expansion tube. Of course the beaker exploded all over the room and left him standing there with eyes as big as saucers.

I told, him, Mr. *, that was hydrogen gas you just made, and went back to my reading.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

10. Lol, thanks for sharing!

[Klaralven]

8. I'm afraid that the lawyers have won

Science involves the careful collection of observations using agreed upon methods, analysis of the information using math and statistics, and consensus regarding the conclusions to be drawn to arrive at approximate truth.

The current method of attempting to arrive at truth in our society is drawn from our tradition of common law, which relies on two camps arguing with each other using whatever information and rhetorical devices are convenient to their cause. It doesn't work so well for anything very complex.