Open science provides access to all to scientific results and therefore grows citizen science. Everyone can read Shakespeare and Maya Angelou. Why shouldn’t everyone be able to read Einstein, or Nergis Mavalvala’s work on gravity waves? Especially in this age of internet conspiracy theories and fake news, making data widely available to anyone to analyze is helpful to those who wish to independently verify results, as any critical thinker should do. Many significant discoveries have been made by citizen scientists in astronomy and paleontology. We should make all STEM fields accessible to an educated, enthusiastic, and really quite talented public.

Fall Office Hours: Tuesdays 9 am – 4 pm in my office (CK323); I can also be found in the Quantum Theory Lab (CK230).