The best science opinion piece published in New Zealand this week has to be the letter to the editor in the Dominion Post (November 11) written by past Rutherford Medal winner and distinguished scientist Jeff Tallon.
As Barack Obama is showing with his pragmatic approach to appointing science and technology csars to his administration, National has to make some important decisions as to who will take the important portfolios of research, science and technology and communications and information technology.
As Tallon points out (see letter below), we continue to view science as some “backroom activity” rather than central to our prosperity. The US is terrified its innovative streak, which made it a giant in the high-tech industry, software development, semiconductors and biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, is on the wane. That’s why there appears to be a renewed focus on science, especially in areas that many scientists claim languished during the Bush administration.
Jeff Tallon, Muritai