the 3 main facets of science. artists and science © urania william blake

The 3 Main Facets of Science

Artists and Science©

Urania

William Blake

UK Science in the Balance?

The 3 Main Facets of Science

JxJy – JyJx = iJz

Chemistry – all of it - in 30 seconds

as easy as 0, 1, 2, 3 ©

Research Strategy ©

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We have had the three Es

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Now we have the three Cs

3 Crises

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Crisis 1

The public appreciate what science has done for them in the past,

©

Not so confident that wise decisions are being made at the SET/society interface for the future

Science and the Media

©

vega presentation.ppt

NN&Nanoscience

Nanotechnology

Ray Whitby and Kuang Wen Hsu Sussex NNC

Insulated conducting wire

Molecular Shock Absorbers

©

I have woken up in the 21st Century to discover that I have been doing nanotechnology all my life

Crisis, Crisis, Crisis ©

Crisis 2

Are we on the verge of losing 50%(?) of our university science departments

The NSF report that highlighted the relatively good level of well qualified 26-30 year old scientists

must not be taken as an argument for complacency because

A-level Chem UG Chem

In 1994 40,000 4000

In 2002 40,000 3000

Fallout from

the Research Assessment Exercise

and

too low unit of resource for science ugs

means

many SET departments face closure

The consequences for the Nation need to be considered

Factors

Science x2

Medicine x4.5

Factors

1. Much greater teaching time ca 5x),

2. need for well equipped labs,

3. direct and indirect costs eg space charges, greater need for heating, power utilities etc

1. Science education needs experiment

2. Scientific method is not taught

3. It is absorbed osmotically from the atmosphere of a research environment

4. Teaching only institutions cannot be provide this and their courses will not be accredited

5. This is related to the notion of what a University is

1. The focusing of research into a few top heavy battleships will unbalance of the science base

2. Oxbridge sends its students to the city and academia – the regional universities tend to supply the chemical industry

3. Outstanding research groups have historically flourished in the smaller institutions

EXAMPLES

HULL First Liquid Crystal Displays

LEICESTER Genetic Fingerprinting

KINGS DNA structure*

SUSSEX Buckminsterfullerene*

*Nobel Prizewinning Discoveries

1. 35% of the GNP of any developed nation depends on catalysis

2. The Chermistry Industry is ca 5 billion in surplus compared with ca 10 billion deficit in manufacturing

Two more worrying factors

The increase in National Insurance contribution

University salary inflation rate has for some time been running at about 3½% whereas allowance for only 2½ has been made

Efficiency going down

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Crisis 3

The crisis in science education

in particular of the 11-15 age group

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Phys Chem Biol

No DegreeNo A-level

According to the Economist of Teachers teaching A levels

In a particular LEA, the ratio of teachers with a degree in the subject

Physics/Chemistry/Biology is 1/2/4

In one study sample

of 30 PGCE science graduates in 1992 only 2 are still in teaching

Language©

The Vega Science Trust

www.vega.org.uk

©

TV (or www) Dinner Approach to the Provision of Teaching Material

RSC – Vega

Internet project


1. RSC-Vega working to create an Internet chemistry teachers’ resource

2. Accessible free worldwide

3. Providing the best possible audio-visual teaching material

4. Especially helpful for new teachers with limited specific experience

Where do you come from?

©

Project Algebra and Geometry Algebra and Geometry are easy. Here is an equation. Fill in the empty squares and solve the equation. F stands for the number of faces, C for the number of corners and E for the number of edges for a shape. For a cube F = 6. Could anything be easier? When you have worked out F, C and E for a shape you can solve the equation.

F + C – E = ?

Faces

Corners

Edges

= ?

Equation

F

C

E

Cube

Pyramid

Icosahedron

Football

What do you notice about the results?

Algebra

It’s as easy as a, b, c ©

©

MU RS.C MMU

The Dalton Buckyball Workshop

dxdy

= a

No kid should leave school without being able to expand or reduce an image

in one go

using a photocopier

3

4

By measuring and determining the ratio

4/3 = 1.33 = 133%

3/4 = 0.75 = 75%

1.00nm

What is a nanometer?

Hare’s Ratio

Medical Notes

Senior Nurses discussed nurses’ inability to do simple maths

many could not work out dose-to-bodyweight ratios

… they put decimal points in the wrong place so patients might receive 10 times more or times less medication than intended

Senior Nurses discussed problems stemming from nurses’ inability to do simple maths


they could not work out dose-to-bodyweight ratios which were particularly important for giving drugs to children

Medical Notes

Senior Nurses discussed problems stemming from nurses’ inability to

do simple maths


EXAMPLES

35% of the GDP tied to Catalysis in some way or other


E =mc2


E =mc2

DNA


E =mc2

H2O DNA

Language

At a Faraday discussion meeting in Birmingham in 1954 on “The study of fast reactions”, the German scientist Manfred Eigen asked the Oxford don Ronnie Bell how the English language would describe reactions which were ‘faster than fast’. Ronnie Bell replied “Damn fast reactions Manfred and if they get faster than that, the English language will not fail you, you can call them damn fast reactions indeed!”.

Final proficiency in English

non-English speaking immigrants to USA

280

240

5 10 20 30

Age of arrival

200

According to the Economist

80% of teaching A leveldo

Physics do ot

The crisis in science education

The crisis in the decimation of science at UK Universities

The crisis in the level of ignorance of the public over science Engineering and Technolgy

C3

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Moliére’s Bourgeois Gentilhomme

MJ Monsieur Jourdain – PM - Philosophy Master

MJ I wish to write something to my lady

PM Then without doubt, it is verse you will need

MJ No - not verse

PM Do you want only prose then?

MJ No neither

PM It must be one or the other

MJ Why?

PM There is no other way to express oneself other than in prose or verse

MJ There is nothing but prose and verse?

PM No sir - everything that is not prose is verse and everything that is not verse is prose

JM And when one speaks - what is that then?

PM Prose

JM Well by my faith! For more than forty years I have been speaking prose without knowing anything about it. I am much obliged to you for having taught me that

Monsieur Jourdain – Philosophy Master

MJ - I agree we have to have SET for the good of society

PM - Then it is nanotechnology we need

MJ - Non not N&N aaghhhh

PM Do you want only High Energy Physics then?

MJ No neither

PM - It must be one or the other high energy particle physics or low energy – which is (atons stuck together in molecule) schemistry molecule biology and moleculr physics moleules which are

Why?

Because that is all there is

There is nothing but High and low energy

No sir - everything that is not High Energy Physics involves low energy and thus molecule which are nanometer in size and everythinh that is not |N&N is high energy science

And when we do

Well by my faith for more than forty years I have been using th fruits of N&N withiout knowing anything about it – I am much obliged sir

Science deals with matter either at HIGH (nuclear) energies eg particle physics and cosmological events such as the Big Bang etc

or

our understanding of how atoms stick together in chemical bonds at LOW energies – around room temperature - what happens when ice freezes we boil water or an egg, take an aspirin etc

Indeed anything that happens at nanoscale dimensions is nanoscience and nanotechnolgy (N&N) - so it encompasses all of chemistry - all of molecular physics and all of - molecular biology

Is there anything left? – Not much

Moliére’s Bourgeois Gentilhomme

MJ Monsieur Jourdain – PM - Philosophy Master

MJ I wish to write something to my lady

PM Then without doubt, it is verse you will need

MJ No - not verse

PM Do you want only prose then?

MJ No neither

PM It must be one or the other

MJ Why?

PM Everything that is not prose is verse and everything that is not verse is prose

JM And when one speaks - what is that then?

PM Prose

JM Well by my faith! For more than forty years I have been speaking prose without knowing anything about it.

MATTER at HIGH ENERGY

particle physics and cosmological events such as the Big Bang etc

MATTER at LOW ENERGY

implicitly depends on chemical bonds – nanoscale science

all chemistry molecular biology and molecular physics

Is there anything left? – Not much

the 3 main facets of science. artists and science © urania william blake

Documents

media slide

future slide

manufacturing slide

lott slide

life slide

cs slide

es slide

research strategy slide