science is vital

Britannia used to rule the world but does not any longer. It doesn’t have much in terms of natural resources, the public transport is awful and more or less everything here is overpriced. Which is understandable, since this country produces very little. London may host the next Olympics but a great sports nation Britain is not. And don’t even start me on weather.

Let’s face it, the only two things Britain is any good at are science and gardening. Some people would disagree and insist that British gardening is excellent, rather than “any good”. That’s fine with me. More to the point, I am told that a lot of scientific research in the UK is world-class. I won’t argue with that either, even though I myself never was involved in world-class research. You would expect the world-class research attract at least some decent funding, and then some more funding to add more class to “just” research, right? A man can dream. But then the government tells us that there is a huge budget deficit “that we inherited” (from the previous government, of course) and science funding also must be cut, which reminds me that we are still surrounded by idiots. I can’t agree more with Robert M. May writing in New Scientist that

the current thinking is not just wrong, it’s mad.

Now I am not a big fan of joining the Facebook groups, but I am prepared to make an exception for a good cause when I see one. Science is Vital is actually doing something: organising a March for Science on Saturday 9th October in central London, and will be lobbying Parliament on Tuesday 12th October. If you are reading this, please join the group, spread the word, plan a day out in London... speak up against the madness.

Of course, there always will be gardening.