Do you remember Tomorrow's World?It was the BBC TV series that tried to update us on new inventions or scientific processes. It ran for decades.Maybe you can recall Equinox, which was a slightly more highbrow science programme on Channel Four. There was also Horizon.Now we no longer have these programmes on TV.
We now have programmes about police chases, coookery by celebs or property porn. The people who commission programmes are no longer interested in science or technology. More accurately , they think that we are no longer interested in science. Fools!
Open your news paper and what will you see?Stories about swine flu or global warming.You will hear of IVF treatment, or breast cancer. We are surrounded by and influenced by science and scientific advancement on a daily basis.The growth of the internet has changed the way we live forever.Our lives have changed by computers, cellphones and satellites.What was once science fiction is now fact.Who in 1960 would have predicted the cellphone??
Yet the relentess dumbing down of our popular culture continues, as we are fed endless pap like Big Brother or Ladettes to Ladies on TV.We celebrate reality tv stars, footballers and Wags. Yet we ignore scientists, as they are not sexy enough, or they are seen as boring.
Forty years ago this month, man walked on the moon. This was a supreme example of man using technology and science to increase his knowledge of the universe.It was the boffins(scientists) who invented the rocket that put astronauts in space.We should celebrate that. One day, we are going to run out of oil,and or cars will need a new kind of fuel.We will have to invent a new type of engine to replace the internal combustion engine.Who will we need to solve that crisis?
Here's a clue: It won't be footballers or glamour models.
