Maxwell’s House and the Good Old Days of Science

I listen to a few of the podcasts that are part of Leo Laporte’s TWiT network. One that I went through is Maxwell’s House, which was discontinued.

One episode that I really liked was episode 63, A Review Of The U.S. Space Program. Ray Maxwell was an engineer and helped design and build a few of the rockets that were part of the Apollo program. It is a really good episode. Go listen to it.

In this episode, he talked briefly about the launch of Sputnik, and the effect it had on the USA. There was a big push for math and science. He said something that really struck me: There were no debates about evolution back then. I kind of wish I was around back then.

He and the host pined for the good old days of science. They thought that perhaps if there was another competing superpower that people would be more willing to support science. I wonder if many people in the USA today know that China has put a few people into space.

Viva science!!

Image from Maxwell’s House, part of the TWiT network