History of Science & Technology Q&A:
History of Science and Technology Q&A (February 9, 2022) »
1 hour 27 minutes
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I think that there has been a concerted and focused effort to give greater emphasis to STEM education since WWII. Has the history of science been left out in this process?
Nassim Taleb points out that engineering precedes theory, even in complicated projects such as jet propulsion. Can you think of historical counterexamples when theory preceded engineering?
Can you talk about some times in history when scientific knowledge was destroyed and why that occurred?
What is the history of the Ivy League? Why are those universities so prestigious?
How does science progress from outside of the academic process?
What do you make of the work being undertaken to lab grow woolly mammoths in a collaboration between a team at Harvard and the company Colossal and its potential in curbing the thawing of permafrost to mitigate the impact of the release of all the built-up carbon?
Do you believe that Fermat really solved Fermat's last theorem with a "truly marvelous demonstration," or was his solution probably not mathematically rigorous?
What is your opinion on polymathy in the modern age of specialization?
How has our understanding of time changed over history?
What do you think is the limit of human understanding, or is there a limit?
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