Carl%20Sagan%20-%20The%20Demon%20Haunted%20World

THE DEMON-HAUNTED WORLD
the honing of key skills which she lists as: 'confidence, perseverance,
caring, teamwork, common sense and problem-solving.' To
which I'd add sceptical thinking and an aptitude for wonder.
At the same time, children with special abilities and skills need
to be nourished and encouraged. They are a national treasure.
Challenging programmes for the 'gifted' are sometimes decried as
'elitism'. Why aren't intensive practice sessions for varsity football,
baseball and basketball players and interschool competition
deemed elitism? After all, only the most gifted athletes participate.
There is a self-defeating double-standard at work here,
nationwide.
The problems in public education in science and other subjects
run so deep that it's easy to despair and conclude that they can
never be fixed. And yet, there are institutions hidden away in big
cities and small towns that provide reason for hope, places that
strike the spark, awaken slumbering curiosities and ignite the
scientist that lives in all of us:
• The enormous metallic iron meteorite in front of you is as full
of holes as a Swiss cheese. Gingerly you reach out to touch it. It
feels smooth and cold. The thought occurs to you that this is a
piece of another world. How did it get to Earth? What
happened in space to make it so beat up?
• The display shows maps of eighteenth-century London, and the
spread of a horrifying cholera epidemic. People in one house
got it from people in neighbouring houses. By running the wave
of infection back, you can see where it started. It's like being a
detective. And when you pinpoint the origin you find it's a
place with open sewers. It occurs to you that there's a life and
death reason why modern cities have adequate sanitation. You
think of all those cities and towns and villages in the world that
don't. You get to thinking maybe there's a simpler, cheaper
way to do it . . .
• You're crawling through a long, utterly black tunnel. There are
sudden turns, ups and downs. You go through a forest of
feathery things, beady things, big solid round things. You
imagine what it must be like to be blind. You think about how
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