nerds ....

[WSMJ27A@prodigy.com (MRS VIRGINIA A TIDWELL)]

Bonney has a good point.  The film Jurassic Park illustrates 
whats good and whats bad about 20th century American
culture.  The glaring scientific inaccuracies have been the 
subject of countless notes both here and on other bulletin
boards.  The film's mistakes are real and should be a cause 
for concern to anyone who is truing to raise the level of
scientific literacy in this country.  We should not forget, 
however, that the general public and even the mass media
labor under some very real limitations.  Most people do not 
have access to the original data, as we do, in the form of
peer review journals and scientific papers.  They only know 
what they are being told.  And while I am often irritated
with what I call "Nova Science" (if it's on Nova, it must be 
true), it is good to remember that such popular science
programs and films do serve a purose.  Without them the
American public would be even more ignorant of scientific
thought than is the case now.  It would be nice if authors
and writers would be more careful to get their facts
straight, but there is another issue here as well.  In
presenting these shows the mass media is riding the wave of 
a fad - an interest that has grabbed the publics attention
for the present time.  Many of us can remember when
paleontology was NOT in fashion.  The paleontology dept. of 
my own museum was practically in mothballs until just 6
years ago.  Then the powers that be recognised that
dinosaurs had become popular, sexy, and a potential source
of funding.  Much of the research that is so thoroughly
discussed in this forum has only been made possible by the
renewed interest on the part of the general public.
Certainly, an honest examination of the content of
scientific programs is worthwhile.  But we should not be
carried away by our "great knowledge".  Like all fads, this 
one will pass. Eventually, we will have to once again
work in relative obscurity.
         All of the above is, of course, IMHO

                     Virginia Tidwell