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Sunday, October 11, 2009 | Categories: Episodes
Interviewed by Rex Murphy on the October 11, 2009 program
"Does Canada give enough support to its scientists?"
Rex Murphy's introduction to the October 11, 2009 program:
"Does Canada give enough support to its scientists?"
Today we want to talk about something that came out of the news of this week's Nobel Prize announcements. Canada was honoured to have a winner in physics. Nova Scotian Willard Boyle shared the prize for physics with two other scientists for his work forty years ago leading to the development of the CCD -- an electronic device that enables the digital capture of light. The discovery was an immense step forward for astronomy, among other things, and it revolutionized photography. Who now doesn't own a digital camera?
The Nobel for physics is something of a summit of the Nobel awards. Great eminent winners in the past include the very greatest minds of the 20th century -- Einstein, Neils Bohr, Max Plank, Richard Feynman. So, Willard Boyle, born in Amherst, Nova Scotia, is in very select company. Among other distinctions, he was for several years Director of Research the world famous Bell Labs in New Jersey.
He invented the first continuously operating Ruby Laser, which stimulated progress towards fibre optics.
Dr. Boyle's achievement will probably work to stimulate the interest of young people in this country. Example is a great power.
In the interviews following the announcement of the award, Willard Boyle said that scientists nowadays simply do not get the support they need. He suggested that real science is best done by free spirits unfettered by bureaucratic requirements, something he felt he had in his day but is a rare thing now. We'd like, today, to take our cue and question from his few remarks and ask you about the status of science and science teaching in Canada; how science can best be supported, and what are the respective roles of industry, universities and government in promoting and supporting scientific endeavour.
Canada has long said that stimulating scientific research is a top priority, but much of the money -- both government and private -- made available to scientists, has strings attached and specific expectations in terms of results.
How is science best supported? How well does Canada do in supporting science? What's the role of industry, universities and governments in this effort? And your response to a Canadian winning the Nobel prize for physics?
Now, the other piece of Nobel Prize news was the announcement that set the blogosphere a-twitter -- that U.S. President Barack Obama had won the Nobel Prize for peace. We're going to discuss the issue of how to encourage scientific research; but as we go, we're also going to poll callers, unofficially, on their reaction to the peace prize news.
So, the question today: "Does Canada give enough support to its scientists?" And give us your take on Obama winning the Nobel Peace Prize.
Should scientists be given a freer rein? Whose responsibility is it to funnel money to scientific research -- governments or private businesses? How're we doing at encouraging our children to go into science? Are there good opportunities and careers for them out there? Do scientists need time for a kind of play where their creativity in developing new ideas and concepts can be encouraged?
I'm Rex Murphy on CBC Radio One, and on Sirius satellite radio channel 137. This is Cross Country Checkup.
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