Winning the Nobel Prize automatically gives laureates a platform. This month the International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) provided seven Nobelists with an additional floating one--a 40-foot yacht on the Delaware River. On May 4 the Lady Maureen sailed between Philadelphia, site of ISEF's first and 50th fairs, and Camden, N.J., home of the Coriell Institute, one of the fair's sponsors. It also served as a stage for seven laureates to encourage more scientists to get involved in informal science education.
More scientists are becoming aware of their need to reach out beyond the university, several laureates agreed in separate interviews. "The National Academy of Sciences used to be the Mount Olympus where the scientists would converse among the clouds," notes Dudley R. Herschbach, Harvard University chemistry professor and 1986 laureate. "That's changing under [NAS president] Bruce Alberts." In a recent internal NAS questionnaire asking members to prioritize...
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