Nobel Prize winning scientists weigh in on the presidential election.
Many Nobel prize winners in science (68 science prize winners to be exact) took a position on tomorrow’s presidential election in an open letter to the American public. I think their words speak for themselves so I have included their letter in its entirety below.
An Open Letter to the American People
America’s economic future, the quality of our health, and the quality of our environment depend on our ability to continue America’s proud legacy of discovery and invention. As winners of the Nobel Prizes in science, we are proud of our contribution to the extraordinary advances American science has made in recent years. But we’re deeply concerned that without leadership and continued commitment to scientific research the next generation of Americans will not make and benefit from future discoveries.
President Obama understands the key role science has played in building a prosperous America, has delivered on his promise to renew our faith in science-based decision making and has championed investment in science and technology research that is the engine of our economy. He has built strong programs to educate young Americans in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics and programs to provide Americans the training they need to keep pace with a technology-driven economy.
His opponent supports a budget that, if implemented, would devastate a long tradition of support for public research and investment in science at a time when this country’s future depends, as never before, on innovation. He has also taken positions that privilege ideology over clear scientific evidence on climate change.
As a nation we must continue the investments that revolutionized agriculture, invented the Internet, gave us modern medicine and enabled a strong national defense. Abandoning this tradition would be a devastating step backwards. If you believe, as we do, that America’s future is bound in essential ways to science and innovation, we urge you to join us in working to ensure the reelection of President Obama.
Alexei Abrikosov, Physics ’03
Peter Agre, Chemistry ’03
Sidney Altman, Chemistry, ’89
Philip Anderson, Physics, ’77
David Baltimore, Medicine ’75
Paul Berg, Chemistry, ’80
J. Michael Bishop, Medicine, ’89
Elizabeth Blackburn, Medicine, ’09
Günter Blobel, Medicine, ’99
Nicolaas Bloembergen, Physics, ’81
Linda Buck, Medicine, ’04
Mario Capecchi, Medicine, ’07
Martin Chalfie, Chemistry, ’08
Leon Cooper, Physics, ’72
James Cronin, Physics, ’80
Robert Curl, Chemistry, ’96
Johann Deisenhofer, Chemistry, ’88
Edmond Fischer, Medicine, ’92
Val Fitch, Physics, ’80
Jerome Friedman, Physics, ’90
Murray Gell-Mann, Physics, ’69
Walter Gilbert, Chemistry, ’80
Donald Glaser, Physics, ’60
Sheldon Glashow, Physics, ’79
Roy Glauber, Physics, ’05
Joseph Goldstein, Medicine, ’85
Paul Greengard, Medicine, ’00
Carol Greider, Medicine, ’09
David Gross, Physics, ’04
Robert Grubbs, Chemistry, ’05
Roger Guillemin, Medicine, ’77
John Hall, Physics, ’05
Leland Hartwell, Medicine, ’01
Alan Heeger, Chemistry, ’00
Dudley Herschbach, Chemistry, ’86
Roald Hoffmann, Chemistry, ’81
H. Robert Horvitz, Medicine, ’02
David Hubel, Medicine, ’81
Eric Kandel, Medicine, ’00
Brian Kobilka, Chemistry, ’12
Roger Kornberg, Chemistry, ’06
Leon Lederman, Physics, ’88
Robert Lefkowitz, Chemistry, ’12
Rudy Marcus, Chemistry, ’92
John Mather, Physics, ’06
Craig Mello, Medicine, ’06
Mario Molina, Chemistry, ’95
Douglas Osheroff, Physics, ’96
Arno Penzias, Physics, ’78
Martin Perl, Physics, ’95
David Politzer, Physics, ’04
Stanley Prusiner, Medicine, ’97
Burton Richter, Physics, ’76
Richard Schrock, Chemistry, ’05
Hamilton Smith, Medicine, ’78
Oliver Smithies, Medicine, ’07
George Smoot, Physics, ’06
Thomas Steitz, Chemistry, ’09
Jack Szostak, Medicine, ’09
Joseph Taylor Jr, Physics, ’93
Charles Townes, Physics, ’64
Roger Tsien, Chemistry, ’08
Daniel Tsui, Physics, ’98
James Watson, Medicine, ’62
Carl Wieman, Physics, ’01
Eric Wieschaus, Medicine, ’95
Frank Wilczek, Physics, ’04
Robert Wilson, Physics, ’78
The views expressed in this letter represent those of the signers acting as individual citizens. They do not necessarily represent the views of the institutions with which they are affiliated. The Medicine award is for “Physiology or Medicine.”
This letter is widely available online. I obtained it from the following link from the premier journal “Science” which is the official scientific journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (the world’s largest general scientific society).
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