Chad: Innumeracy by John Allen Paulos
Tom: What Does the Public Really Need To Know?: Science/Math edition.
Chad: The Innumeracy of Intellectuals
Janet: Fear and loathing in the academy.
Join in the fray....
Search
Profile
My scientific specialty is chronobiology (circadian rhythms and photoperiodism), with additional interests in comparative physiology, animal behavior and evolution. I am not an MD so I cannot diagnose and treat your sleep problems. As well as writing this blog, I am also the Online Discussion Expert for PLoS. This is a personal blog and opinions within it in no way reflect the policies of PLoS. You can contact me at: Coturnix@gmail.com
Buy the 2008 Science Blogging Anthology:
Buy the 2007 Science Blogging Anthology:
Buy the 2006 Science Blogging Anthology:
Recent Posts
- Clock Quotes
- Tweetlinks, 11-09-09
- ScienceOnline'09 - interview with Christian Casper
- ScienceOnline2010 - introducing the participants
- Clock Quotes
- Tweetlinks, 11-08-09
- The podcast of the radio show is now online
- ScienceOnline2010 - Program highlights
- Clock Quotes
- Tweetlinks, 11-07-09
Recent Comments
- Darren Naish on ScienceOnline'09 - interview with Christian Casper
- Christian Casper on ScienceOnline'09 - interview with Christian Casper
- Catharine on Tweetlinks, 11-08-09
- LuLu on BIO101 - Lecture 7 - Physiology: Coordinated Response
- Coturnix on Cool new Scienceblogs.com widgets
- JohnV on Cool new Scienceblogs.com widgets
- Coturnix on Cool new Scienceblogs.com widgets
- JohnV on Cool new Scienceblogs.com widgets
- Occam Razor on Will there be terrorist attacks if Obama is the President?
- DeLene on Science Cafe Raleigh: Boom 'n' Doom: Volcanoes, North Carolina and North Carolina Volcanoes
Archives
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
- April 2007
- March 2007
- February 2007
- January 2007
- December 2006
- November 2006
- October 2006
- September 2006
- August 2006
- July 2006
- June 2006
Blogroll
Find me on...
Make Me Happy
Add Scienceblogs to your Technorati Favorites!
Make Me Solvent
I Support
Bloggie Stuff
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.
« An eye-catching yet flawed bar graph | Main | Potential abuse of users' privacy in Serbia »
Innumeracy and related academic turf-defenses....
Category: Academia
Posted on: July 26, 2008 7:10 PM, by Coturnix
Find more posts in: 
Education & Careers
Share this: Facebook Twitter Stumbleupon Reddit Email + More
TrackBacks
TrackBack URL for this entry: http://scienceblogs.com/mt/pings/77329
Comments
OK. We can do a few things:
1. We could try to establish what people MUST know by way of math.
2. We could figure out when they should know that.
3. We could stop being surly about our own expertise and realize most people don't need to share it or even have a vague notion of what we do.
4. We could let people choose what they need to know with some competing and carefully vetted guidelines that are non-binding. Remarkably, people will jump through the hoops that have value to them. We all do it.
5. We could stop acting as if there is some idea of a discipline that entails a certain set of knowing. That's crap. It doesn't exist. Get over it.
Posted by: Ryan Lanham | July 26, 2008 9:49 PM
Those are 5 good questions.
But who is the "we" of "We could try to establish what people MUST know by way of math" and the other 4?
We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union... and intersection?
We, the pillars of the institutional Science edifice?
We, the Sciencebloggers?
We, the majority of adults who don't know whether the Earth revolves around the Sun or the Sun revolves around the earth, whether an atom or an electron is larger, whether one can see the Venus by day with the naked eye from the surface of the earth, and who don't know how to do compound interest arithmetic?
We, the uncredentialed Boards of Education of local communities?
We, the national Academy of Science?
We, the bureaucrats of the Department of Education, with unwavering dedication to President Bush's great legacy, No Child Left behind?
Begs the question. Who should ask the questions, answer the questions, weight the answers, develop the policies, execute the policies, do the math?
Posted by: Jonathan Vos Post | July 27, 2008 1:34 PM