Just heard on NPR's Talk of the Nation: Science Friday that ABC is premiering a show called American Inventor showcasing the aspirations of up and coming inventors in a bake-off format leading to "America's most promising inventor". Naturally as an entertainment show, it will feature the "human drama" highlighting the wacky and heart-warming.
My first reaction was to cringe at the potential freak-show that might marginalizes further any hope that science and engineering become first class careers for young people. Thinking about it a little more, maybe its not such a bad idea to showcase how creativity and enterpreneurship can blend with science and engineering as an area of interest to young people.
Too bad, shows like PBS program Rough Science don't get more play. The series tossed a group of scientists from different disciplines on an island with a time limited challenge without the support of a lab, instruments or refined ingredients to meet their challenge. It ended up showcasing creativity, teamwork, ingenuity and how personalities drive achivement - great example of the real world.
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