Jun
2
2
June 2, 2008
Smorgasbord
Posted by Rachel Pepling on June 2, 2008 in Ripped From the Pages
A few stories from the June 2 issue that you might find of interest (plus, a movie review):
Associate Editor Britt Erickson takes a close look at the bisphenol A issue. BPA has been around for years, is in numerous everyday products, and has been deemed safe by federal and industry regulators. Industry, however, is bowing to consumer pressure and, when possible, switching to BPA-free plastics. Meanwhile, lawmakers are discussing banning the compound entirely, at least from products used by kids. Prudent or overly cautious?
Money talk–the 2007 Starting Salary Survey results are in (albeit far later than usual). Chemists who graduated between June 2006 and July 2007 seem to be doing pretty well. The market’s looking a bit shakier now, so let’s hope the ‘08 grads fare the same.
And Assistant Editor Tonia Moore reviews “Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull” in Reel Science. She gives it a 3-flask rating. What do you think?
Grab your BPA-free water bottle, a tub of popcorn, and the C&EN Classifieds (C&EN Online is hiring, by the way), and enjoy!
A New Kind Of God
Jun
2
2
Posted by Rachel Pepling on June 2, 2008 in The Editor's Blog
Last week, Rudy opined about the environment. This week, Managing Editor Ivan Amato tackles religion:
Ever since I had even a rudimentary grasp of the biggest story of all—you know, the one that begins with a Big Bang out of which fundamental particles congealed and then coalesced into galaxies, planets, and a living kingdom that includes people capable of wondering where the whole shebang came from—I have revered the universe for its inherent creative power.
This is why a brilliant field of stars, a dragonfly executing aeronautical acrobatics, and an insight into how a protein’s structure elicits its biological function all can evoke in me a sense of awe. One of the greatest gifts the scientific enterprise offers, I have come to believe, is an ever-growing basis for revering the universe and experiencing awe.
Which is why I find Stuart A. Kauffman’s new book, “Reinventing the Sacred: A New View of Science, Reason, and Religion” (Basic Books), so provocative, courageous, and potentially important.
Few are those scientists who passionately acknowledge the awe and even religious sensibility that contemplation on the evidence-based portrait of the universe can catalyze. And almost as rare as a Higgs boson sighting is an accomplished scientist who argues that the “relentless creativity of the universe” should be spoken of as God and that this new conception of God should supplant the thousands-year embrace by billions of human beings of a transcendent creator God.
Read the rest of Ivan’s editorial.
Recent Comments