The Science Generations

["Timothy C. May" <tcmay@got.net>]

Steve brings us some important issues. Even a few crypto-related issues, later.

At 7:08 PM -0800 12/5/96, Steve Schear wrote:

>When I was doing my undergraduate work several of us built a heat-seeking
>and homing circuit which we subsequently tested in a small (24-inch) solid
....
>functioning testbed.  I did quite a bit of serious amateur rocketry in my
>teen years through the Northrup Rocketry Club (So. Cal) and launches at a
>site near Edwards AFB (they were happy to track our launches and make sure
....
>I'm certain I and many of my friends got much of our interest for math and
>science and subsequent academic success from such hands-on activities which
>were encouraged or supported by teachers, parents, corporations and the
>government.  We were forced to solve real chemistry, math, engineering,
>physics and material science problems.  This has all vanished is our zeal
>to protect youth and society from any activity which might lead injury or
>misuse.  I can't even find a place to buy a niece a real chemistry set as
>tort laws have forced them from the market.  When considering the plumeting
>interest and achievement of our youth in math and science we look nor
>further for a reason.

I never was seriously into rockets, but I sure was heavily into Gilbert
chemistry sets, making low-grade explosives, etc., and, as I shifted into
physics (around the 8th grade), into Tesla coils, radio emissions, plasmas,
tunnel diodes, etc.

(Tunnel diodes may seem low-tech to you Gen-X folks, given that Esaki's
invention never really changed the world as transistors did, but it was
amazing to me as a 10th grader to be experimenting with "quantum
tunneling." Your mileage may vary.)

I'm not sure if Gilbert chemistry sets went off the market for liablity
reasons, or for "lack of interest." The "4-banger" I had in 1961,
supplemented with varius Bunsen burners, arc furnaces, Erlenmayer flasks,
and whatnot, was amazing for its time. (And not terribly expensive, in case
some of the "social democrats" on this list are thinking I lived a

(I used to lie in bed at night, after my eyes adjusted to total darkness,
watching through the lens on my Gilbert "spinthariscope," watching the
flashes and trails of alpha particles striking the scintillator screen.
Little did I know then that these same alpha particles would make my career
15 years later.)

I believe there have been roughly (very roughly) three genarations of
"science kids":

* Generation 1: The kids of the 1920s-40s. The Ernest Lawrences and the
Robert Noyces, who grew up on farms, repairing tractors and farm machinery.
They learned about machinery at a direct level. These were the giants of
the post-war science community, and the founders of modern American chip
companies.

* Generation 2: The Sputnik generation, of the 1950s-60s. They grew up with
Gilbert chemistry sets, Erector sets, "All About" books, and with constant
exposure to nuclear physics, relativily, molecular biology, etc. These were
the workers who staffed the companies formed by the Noyces and Moores of
the world, and the young scientists who pioneered the use of computers.

* Generation 3: The computer generation. The 1970s-80s, who grew up with
Commodore PETs and Apple IIs (and some later machines). These are the "new
pioneers"  of the 1980s-90s, the Marc Andreesens and the like.

(I could imagine expanding this to 4 or 5 "generations," but I think you
get the point. Being 44 years old, and almost 45, I claim no knowledge
about what the "latest generation" is all about. Maybe it's the "Beavis and
Butthead" generation...I don't know.)

--Tim May




Just say "No" to "Big Brother Inside"
We got computers, we're tapping phone lines, I know that that ain't allowed.
---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:----
Timothy C. May              | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,
tcmay@got.net  408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
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