What Would Martin Gardner Think?
By Michael Dorff, MAA president @mdorff44 and Michael Pearson, MAA executive director
As most of our readers are likely aware, Scientific American endorsed Joe Biden for president -- the first time that this storied magazine has made such an endorsement in its 175 year history.
The endorsement is not framed as a partisan statement, but rather as a call for the nation to recommit to the post-WWII consensus of reliance on scientific evidence and expertise to inform policy decisions, without regard to political party.
As just one example, the National Science Foundation (NSF), the largest funder of mathematical research and education, was founded in 1950 "to promote the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; to secure the national defense..." The success of the NSF in advancing the scientific enterprise should be obvious, and depends on continued adherence to core scientific principles, even as, like every federal agency, it must be sensitive to the current needs of the country, as identified and prioritized by political leaders. This summer’s Issue of Science and Technology, published by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and Arizona State University, consists of essays exploring these questions, as well as the best path forward for science’s ability to deliver societal benefits.
The Department of Energy’s National Laboratories (DoE) serve as another powerful reminder of the relationship between the federal government and the larger scientific enterprise. According to the DoE, the National Laboratories are
An outgrowth of immense investment in scientific research initiated by the U.S. Government during World War II, the National Laboratories have served as the leading institutions for scientific innovation in the United States for more than seventy years.
What’s left unsaid here is that, while owned by DoE, the 17 national labs are managed through partnerships with universities and private contractors. For example, Los Alamos, one of three National Nuclear Security Administration Laboratories, is managed by Triad National Security, LLC, a non-profit organization made up of three members: Battelle Memorial Institute, The Texas A&M University System and the University of California.
The MAA, as a matter of policy and in respect of our status as a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, does not endorse particular candidates or parties. In fact, the two of us have a history of belonging to different political parties. We recognize the value of perspectives from both parties, the need to embrace compromise, and continued adjustment of governmental policies in response to changing circumstances. At the same time, as part of the nation’s scientific community, we feel that it is important for us to stand together in support of science and evidence-based decision-making at all levels. We encourage MAA members, regardless of political persuasion, to speak out for the value of science and mathematics, and hold our leaders accountable to make use of the best possible scientific evidence in policy decisions.
Martin Gardner wrote his Scientific American column, Mathematical Games, for 25 years. Throughout his career, he was also a fierce critic of pseudoscience and other forms of “undiluted hocus-pocus” (the title of his autobiography). We can’t know how Gardner would react to Scientific American’s decision to endorse Biden, or how he would respond to the larger issues we, as a society, face. However, we suspect he’d join us in encouraging our fellow citizens to exercise their right to vote, and to vigorously advocate for reason and evidence as the basis for all of our deliberations.