Science

pokerfan

(27,677 posts) Sat Mar 17, 2012, 02:27 PM Mar 2012

A Challenge to Make Science Crystal Clear (Alan Alda)

At 11, Alan Alda was fascinated by the colorful, translucent undulations of a burning flame. So he asked his teacher, “What is a flame?” “It’s oxidation,” she said.

The answer dumbfounded him. A flame is indeed oxidation, a type of chemical reaction that occurs when something burns. But the word did not capture why a flame burns orange or why it produces heat, or anything else that the young Mr. Alda really wanted to know about it.

“It’s just giving it another name,” he said by telephone last week. “It’s like saying, ‘Well, a flame is Fred.’ And that really doesn’t get you anywhere.”

Mr. Alda, now 76, pursued acting rather than science — many people still think of him as Hawkeye Pierce from the television series “M*A*S*H” — but his fascination with the universe persisted.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/06/science/alan-aldas-challenge-to-make-science-easier-to-understand.html

You can know the name of a bird in all the languages of the world, but when you're finished, you'll know absolutely nothing whatever about the bird... So let's look at the bird and see what it's doing — that's what counts. I learned very early the difference between knowing the name of something and knowing something. --Richard Feynman, "What is Science?", 1966

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A Challenge to Make Science Crystal Clear (Alan Alda) (Original Post) pokerfan Mar 2012 OP

A great man and a great American. Cooley Hurd Mar 2012 #1

I remember watching M*A*S*H back then pokerfan Mar 2012 #2

Did you know that opium puts you to sleep because-- eridani Mar 2012 #3

Neuroscience is starting to move past the "spoprific principle" stage currently. Odin2005 Mar 2012 #4

I hated when teachers pulled that kind pseudo-explaination. Odin2005 Mar 2012 #5

Cooley Hurd

(26,877 posts)

1. A great man and a great American.

Reply to pokerfan (Original post)

Sat Mar 17, 2012, 02:31 PM

Mar 2012

I've been proud to be a fan of his for 40 years now (yes, M*A*S*H debuted 40 years ago-wow!).

pokerfan

(27,677 posts)

2. I remember watching M*A*S*H back then

Reply to Cooley Hurd (Reply #1)

Sat Mar 17, 2012, 04:08 PM

Mar 2012

I think it lost its edge in the later seasons but it was still better than pretty much anything else on at the time. I could easily see Alda as a scientist but grateful that he went into acting.