I am writing this from 34000 feet in a Delta jet using the airlines free access to it’s wifi. I am also reading a book, The Science of Liberty by Timothy Ferris. The book is the story of how science and the rise of liberal democracies are linked. Science emerged poking holes in authoritarian and monarchist countries and helped emerging liberal democracies to foster freedom–Ferris argues that science was and continues to be the “new” ingredient that sparked liberal democracies.

One of my favorite quotes by Jacob Bronowski is “the greatest discovery made by scientists is science itself.” In the context of Ferris’ book, we see how powerful Bronowski’s statement regarding the discovery of science is for the emergence of liberal democracies.

One claim that Ferris makes to those countries that might want to foster a liberal democracy is they must also foster science and technology. And it is “liberty” that is essential for science and democracy to flourish.

In recent posts I have raised the question “Why do we teach science?” To have science education as a partner in fostering science in a democratic society, teachers need to be free to create environments where innovation and change underscore the nature of the science curriculum. The increasing control on public education by the Federal government and state governments as well is precipitating a crisis in teaching.

There a lot to explore here, and I’ll come back to this in the days ahead. In the meantime, “fasten your seat belts.”