ESOF soundbites: Alan Leshner
Alan Leshner, the CEO of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, spoke today on European and American views of science. There were too many good quotes to pick just one…
“We just whisper the ‘American’ part…”
On AAAS being an international association, despite its name.
“People still respect science and technology. … There is a problem however. They have no idea what science is.”
Explaining why one survey can show people appreciating the benefits coming from science while another can show they think astrology is scientific.
“We’re one of the few countries in the world that didn’t have climate change until three months ago. And now we do.”
On American government science policy.
“I used to have a t-shirt with all of the acronyms used by the NSF [National Science Foundation] and nobody knew what they all meant, including me.”
Regarding science’s love of acronyms.
