As you may know Obama
has filled the top two science positions in his administration, and both are going to be physicists!!! :) :
- Secretary of Energy: Steven Chu, a Nobel Prize winning physicist.
- Presidential Science Advisor: John Holdren, big name physicist on energy and climate change.
I hope what this means the future will be bright for physics. True these guys have careers centered in energy and environmental issues; still, they are physicists and I am sure they will be kinder to supporting all physics research then non-physicists would be.
Now, my advise to Obama is to have a co-science advisor, and pick a theoretical physicist. :)
It seems like Obama is surrounding himself with some competent scientists, but the real question is will funding for basic science increase with all of the other demands on the budget? Personally, I think basic science research is in for a few lean years - especially as climate change and renewable energy research eat up even larger portions of the Department of Energy's budget.
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