Today I’m off to Portland, OR for the 2010 American Physical Society’s March meeting to participate in this panel:
Science Literacy, the Nature of Science and Religion
Jon Miller: The Development of Civic Scientific Literacy in the United States
Sheril Kirshenbaum: How Scientific Illiteracy Threatens Our Future
Murray Peshkin: Addressing the Public About Science and Religion
Judith Scotchmoor: Increasing our understanding of how science really works
Art Hobson: Physics Literacy for All Students
Our session will be moderated by Lawrence Woolf and you can read the abstracts online. I’m really looking forward to what I’m certain will be a very interesting discussion.
March 16th, 2010 at 8:20 am
Looking forward to reading more about this. I’m a big fan of Jon Miller. (Please tell Judi I said “hi”…great to see you in Austin!)
March 16th, 2010 at 9:21 am
Sounds interesting. Wished I could go to one of these.
March 16th, 2010 at 10:01 am
Seems like it could be a far more interesting and useful panel than what I have seen of other dialogues regarding the relationship between science and religion. Wish you much success and hope you have time to browse through Powell’s shelves.
March 16th, 2010 at 1:13 pm
Peshkin: “I try to explain how [religion and science] are disjoint discussions [...]
Can I get a “N”
Can I get an “O”
Can I get a “M”
Can I get an “A”
Peshkin: “Without doubt, the most important lesson is that most Americans have religious beliefs that are important to them and are willing to consider what I say only because they know I respect their beliefs.”
I strongly disagree with her caricature of “most Americans” as so militant (and insecure) in their beliefs as to refuse to even listen to someone until they are sure that their precious beliefs are sufficiently respected. What a horrible way to regard your fellow Americans. To misappropriate Bush’s speechwriter. This is a fine example of the tyranny of low expectations.
March 16th, 2010 at 2:25 pm
If this is being video recorded, can you post it online?
March 16th, 2010 at 2:58 pm
I like the Abstracts, particularly Scotchmoor’s and Peshkin’s. And, in context, I am frankly amazed to see this in Miller’s: “individuals who accept climate change and individuals who have doubts about it could demonstrate an acceptable of scientific literacy by demonstrating a command of the basic scientific constructs that underlie these arguments”. Very good!
March 23rd, 2010 at 6:57 am
[...] on boxing up life in North Carolina, but you bet I’ll have a lot more to say about the American Physical Society conference and the terrific four other speakers on my panel–Jon Miller, Murray Peshkin, Judith [...]
March 25th, 2010 at 2:44 pm
To Gillt (4): No disrespect is implied. I’m not speaking of militants. I’m speaking of reasonable people who are tired of having supercilious scientists tell them, without offering evidence but falsely claiming the authority of science, that their religion is nonsense.