Galileo Galilei (1564 - 1642): Think for yourself!
by MARCELO GLEISER
Quite often, people ask me why, as a research physicist, do I bother writing for the general public. "Doesn't that take time away from research?" they wonder. The answer is, yes, it does. However, to me — and I suspect to other practicing scientists that dedicate some of their time to science popularization, like Brian Green, Lisa Randall, Stephen Hawking, Lee Smolin, Steve Pinker, Sean Carroll, Antonio Damasio, my colleagues here at 13.7, and many more — presenting the ideas of science to society is more than just fun and intellectually stimulating: it's part of our duty as scientists. And it's vitally important to our future.
