Wake Up Call

[Author's note: This is the prologue to "Why American Can't Think," a book in progress. This prologue puts our current education situation into historical perspective and sets forth the purpose of this book. An image of Sputnik I will appear in the appropriate place. Comments are welcome.]

On October 4, 1957, America woke up to a changed universe. For the first time ever, an artificial satellite revolved over our heads. The fast-moving object reappeared in the sky every 96 minutes. Launched by the Soviet Union in a display of technology and propaganda, it shook Americans to the core. The Russians called it Sputnik; it weighed 181 pounds.

I was a high school student at the time and recall vividly the impact this event had on our small beach community. It was as though the Russians were about to invade right where we lived. People across the entire country were stunned. How could this happen? Weren't the Americans well ahead of the Soviet Union? We were first with the atomic bomb and first with the hydrogen bomb. We had many ex-Nazi German rocket scientists working for us. We were America!

The Soviet Union wasn't through with us however. On November 3, they launched another satellite into orbit. This time, it weighed over 1,100 pounds. Clearly, they'd have little trouble launching a powerful nuclear weapon into the United States if they chose.

Two months later, the United States attempted to launch its own satellite, Vanguard. In a public relations disaster, the rocket exploded on the launch pad. Even had it succeeded, it weighed only three pounds and would have been too little too late. As it was, the failure made things worse, much worse. A public relations problem had escalated into a major national issue.

The army came to the rescue on January 31, 1958. Werner von Braun's group in army research managed to launch Explorer I, a 30-pound satellite, into orbit. The space race was on.

Ultimately, on March 17, a Vanguard satellite was successfully launched. During 1957 and 1958, eight launch attempts were made for Vanguard. This was the only one to succeed. In a strange twist of fate, Vanguard I is still in orbit and is the oldest such satellite, the others having long ago fallen out of lower orbits.

Among all of the hand-wringing and finger-pointing, one fact stood out. Our schools were training fewer scientists than would be required to meet the challenge. Congress and the nation responded with fervor.

At that time, schools had been adjusting their curricula to meet the young students' social, personal, and vocational needs. Suddenly, pressures that had been building to make curricula more rigorous surged. Funded by the National Science Foundation, new materials for science education were created in physics, chemistry, and biology. Science education had become an important part of the space race, which culminated in a manned moon landing when Apollo 11's lunar excursion module descended to the moon's surface on July 20, 1969. The Soviet Union never managed a manned moon landing.

Vanguard Satellite, Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech

It's notable that America responded to this event so dramatically. It wasn't Pearl Harbor, but America marshaled its resources almost as though it were. Congress did not seriously challenge the channeling of resources into the race for the Moon. The American people cheered from the sidelines, watching anxiously at each flight of Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo. They mourned the loss the Apollo 1 crew, Grissom, White, and Chaffee.

Today, we haven't awakened to a Sputnik-like tsunami of technological or propaganda superiority. Instead, we're seeing the steady erosion of our ability to build new science and new technology as other countries seek to emulate our prior success and gain for themselves the advantages that flow from dominance in these fields, including a higher standard of living for their people and a stronger economic and military presence.

Without a single event to focus the attention of our citizens on the seriousness of the situation, we are having difficulties finding the resources required to improve our science education. We won't see it happen through the forces of the free market because public education is run by the government. The tax revolts of the 1980s have ensured that many of our schools will gradually decay in their ability to deliver quality education, especially in science. Only a few wealthy communities can fund their schools beyond the amount received by statute.

Yet, even substantial increases in funding will not repair the damage accumulating over more than two decades. Class sizes have exploded. School physical facilities have decayed. Teacher recruitment has lagged; most districts have difficulty in hiring really good science and mathematics teachers.

Certainly an effort has been made. Yet, after over 20 years and billions of dollars, where's the improvement? Optimists may note that things aren't much worse, but they didn't count on the most severe recession since the Great Depression. Science education will not improve because of committees, reports, plans, or grants. We desperately must have real innovation in science education. More of the same just won't work.

The global economy makes our situation even more desperate. Even if we do avoid slipping backward or even make some forward progress, we'll be moving backward with respect to our important global economic competitors. We have to do more than just maintain our position.

This book explores the nature of science education, its special aspects, its history, and the means to repair it. Our work will be difficult because we're seeking to improve science education on a reduced budget. That task will take all of our intellectual resources and will require overcoming the built-in inertia of our education system.

© 2011 by Harry E. Keller, Manhattan Beach, CA U.S.A.
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