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| Volume 49, Number 2, Summer 2000 |
by Robert L. Park
We are always seeking ways to interest the public in science. The solution may be to have more disasters. Indeed, the most closely followed science-related news stories of the past 15 years are all disasters. According to Science and Engineering Indicators 2000, released earlier this year by NSF, the top story was the Challenger explosion, followed by earthquakes, floods, blizzards, droughts, heat waves, epidemics and Chernobyl. No wonder "The Perfect Storm" was number one at the box office and on the best-seller lists. After disasters came space exploration, led by the Hubble Space Telescope (tied with breast implants) and the Pathfinder mission to Mars. Interest in space exploration is consistent with the finding (also in Indicators) that 70 percent of Americans now know the Earth goes around the Sun.
(Source: What's New, American Physical Society, July 7, 2000. Note: Opinions are the author's and are not necessarily shared by the APS, but they should be.)