Today is the 51st Anniversary of America's first lunar walk

Today marks the fifty-first anniversary of America’s first Lunar walk. I was just a little kid, one of many millions of people in the US, and around the world, who witnessed that first spacewalk. It was a proud day for our nation— it seemed like, if we put our minds to it, America could do anything.

From its inception, America moved ahead because it has believed in science. Many of our founding fathers were community scientists; Madison, Washington, and Adams were avid students of the natural world. Thomas Jefferson’s studies and experiments led to agricultural innovations, and any schoolchild can tell you about Benjamin Franklin’s experiments with electricity. Science played a vital role in the Age of Enlightenment, and the rational nature of science also played a role in the ideals that led to the birth of our nation.

Throughout our history, we have moved forward because of our respect for scientific learning, research, and development. We have attained and maintained our standing as a world superpower because of our scientific and technological superiority. Our implementation of cutting-edge agricultural methods turned our Dust Bowl into the breadbasket of the world; American medical advances have eradicated disease like polio, and made surgery and organ transplants safer for patients. US advances in telecommunications led to the personal computers and cell phones that have become so ubiquitous in our daily lives.

Over the last decade or two, a growing anti-science movement has been threatening to drag America backwards. While other rich nations are strengthening and increasing technology and research funding, we are slashing it. Rather than including scientific data in their decision-making, politicians in some states are thumbing their noses at it, and ordinary citizens and health care professionals alike are paying the price.

We will all pay the price if we forget that Science helped America become, and remain, a great nation.