Nunatak,

having read the article by Nobel Laureate Sir Harry Kroto (now brain-drained to Florida) blogged about below, put in comments some more of the article which she felt deserved more airtime:

"Journalists never ask scientists anything other than what the applications are of scientific breakthroughs. Interestingly, I doubt they ever ask a musician, writer or actor the same question."

"The scientific method is based on what I prefer to call the inquiring mindset. It includes all areas of human thoughtful activity that categorically eschew "belief", the enemy of rationality. This mindset is a nebulous mixture of doubt, questioning, observation, experiment and, above all, curiosity, which small children possess in spades. I would argue that it is the most important, intrinsically human quality we possess, and it is responsible for the creation of the modern, enlightened portion of the world that some of us are fortunate to inhabit."

"Scientific education is by far the best training for all walks of life, because it teaches us how to assess situations critically and react accordingly."

Quite.