25 July 2008

Browse an archive of science advice to Congress

Nonpartisan science advice in the US Congress? A newly opened online archive shows that it was possible -- and stimulates a call to re-open the Office of Technology Assessment as an advisor to Congress.

The OTA's archive of 700+ scientific reports on topics ranging from addiction to terrorism to "personal rapid transit" spans the lifetime of the Office of Technology Assessment, which advised the US Congress on science and technology questions from 1972 to 1995. The archive has been put online by the Federation of American Scientists, and makes for fascinating browsing.

It's often difficult to separate science from politics. The 2006 book The Jasons: The Secret History of Science's Postwar Elite, by Ann Finkbeiner, discusses the legendary summer institute where some of the most distinguished scientists in postwar America, including Freeman Dyson (watch his TEDTalk) and Murray Gell-Mann (watch his TEDTalk), kicked around the biggest questions. It's a fascinating look at the complicated Sputnik-era collision between science and government.

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09 July 2008

On losing everything: David Hoffman on TED.com

Nine days before TED2008, filmmaker David Hoffman lost almost everything he owned in a fire that destroyed his home, office, and 30 years of passionate collecting. He looks back at a life that's been wiped clean in an instant -- and looks forward. (Recorded February 2008 in Monterey, California. Duration: 4:06.)

Watch David Hoffman's 2008 talk on TED.com, where you can download it, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances.

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Posted by Matthew Trost | Permalink

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