Monday, January 23, 2006
Snacks 23--Rick Chappell!
"If, by habit, we come to prefer and demand simple constructions to complex questions, eventually we are bound to get incomplete and ultimately incorrect answers."
...Rick Chappell and Jim Hartz
Dr. Rick Chappell is research professor of physics at Vanderbilt University and director of Vanderbilt Dyer Observatory, as well as serving as a special adviser to the vice-chancellor on science and research communication. In the former role, he designed and instituted a unique undergraduate degree program that is dedicated to communicating about science not just to other scientists, but to the general public as well. The co-author of the 1998 book Worlds Apart: How the Distance Between Science and Journalism Threatens America's Future along with journalist and former NBC Today Show co-host Jim Hartz, Dr. Chappell is also former Chief Scientist at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Birmingham, Alabama, as well as being a trained space shuttle astronaut.
In one small but important facet of his role as director of Dyer Observatory, Dr. Chappell regularly goes before a Center for Science Outreach videoconferencing unit and interacts with students all over the world to help them understand and to hopefully become actively involved in science and science careers. I sat down with him in the library of Dyer Observatory, which you really must visit sometime. In lieu of that, check out these virtual tours of the observatory's talented staff and their programs and facilities.
To learn more about this fascinating advocate for technology and exploration, download the show right here. Also visit the "Feed" link to the left to subscribe to the podcast and/or to browse through other episodes of Snacks4theBrain!
Music for today's S4theB! is a little somethin' I whipped up that I call "All This Stuff."
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