Science is rock and roll

When I heard about the program to excite kids about science and technology, I applauded it. National robot-making competitions. Great stuff. Then I saw the TV show last night, promoting the results, and was appalled. There was no celebration of science here. It was all rock and roll of the most glitzy kind, yet another wooing of the lowest common denominator. "Science is rock and roll" should mean that science can be as exciting as rock and roll.

Maybe it was for the kids. Small glimpses of them at work permit such a leap. Maybe the competitions weren't as horrifying as the TV show. But, man, this was marketing at its worse and a betrayal of the excitement of science.