Hello all,
I lost the beginning of the thread but I can imagine it is about how
much
we can trust the science magazines. In my opinion the answer is: it
depends.
I am a scientist for more than 10 years and I've read many good stuff
and a
lot of junk. If you are reading popular science magazines read it
carefully
because the articles were written for general public and they don't care
a lot
if they have consistency. They are very biased and it gives the
impression
science can discover everything in the universe in a few days. Science
is a
very expensive job. To have an idea, the actual experiment I work costs
to the government 10 years of development and almost 2 billion dollars.
The
scientists have to push hard the congress and the public to justify this
cost.
This is the reason the general articles and reports to the public are
extremely
biased. We need to get the money to continue working.
BTW, if you read articles in specialized magazines (in physics, say,
Physical
review letters, physical review, nuclear physics, etc) were the
scientific
community referees the articles before publication, about 99.9% of what
you
read is very serious stuff and it is a result for years of scientific
work.
But, these magazines are very expensive and you don't find them
everywhere.
But, sometimes, these articles are very difficult to understand even for
the specialized audience because of the amount of details they have...
I read a lot popular science magazines. they are funny and can give you
general idea about other fields of scientific investigation.
If this is not the main subject, sorry.
Alex
aimcompute wrote:
>
> Well we only have so much time in our lives John. I can fit in work, sleep,
> going to the bathroom, playing with my son, wasting time watching TV, fixing
> the toilets, photography, etc., etc. etc. When I read a scientific or
> pseudo-scientific article and see quotation marks I accept it as such. When
> the quotation marks end then I read it in a different light.
>
> I didn't intend to broadly paint the scientific community as a whole in a
> bad light, even though I used the phrase scientific community. I am not
> anti-science at all, it's one of my favorite subjects. My poor choice of
> words has unfortunately led to that appearance.
>
> And I did mention headlines at first , which you are correct, is not
> necessarily what scientists say. I stand corrected on that.
>
> Tom C.
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "John Francis" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Sent: Tuesday, April 03, 2001 6:18 PM
> Subject: Re: State of Science -- more interesting but OT stuff...
>
> > aimcompute wrote:
> > >
> > > The fact that I don't accept what I am spoon-fed is the entire reason
> this
> > > topic started.
> >
> > Errm, no. You seem to believe, without question, that what you read
> > is a true and accurate representation of what 'scientists' say, and
> > go on from that premise to condemn science as a whole.
> >
> > Bob is questioning your assumptions. Somewhat abrasively, perhaps,
> > but the substance of what he said appears to be pretty accurate.
> >
> > --
> > John Francis [EMAIL PROTECTED] Silicon Graphics, Inc.
> > (650)933-8295 2011 N. Shoreline Blvd. MS 43U-991
> > (650)932-0828 (Fax) Mountain View, CA 94043-1389
> > Hello. My name is Darth Vader. I am your father. Prepare to die.
> > -
> > This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe,
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> >
>
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--
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Alexandre A. P. Suaide, Ph.D. mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
University of Sao Paulo Phone: 1-313-577-5419
Wayne State University ICQ number: 78139605
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