I'm just a little more than three weeks out of my second total knee replacement and that many weeks in physical rehab, so I can't participate in person in tomorrow's March for Science in Denver.
See this. These scars are what science has done for me.
I know knee replacement is not a question of life and death like a heart transplant is. Like Insulin is. Like an intrauterine blood transfusion providing blood to an Rh-positive fetus is when fetal red blood cells are being destroyed by Rh antibodies. Like antibiotics and antivirals and vaccinations can be.
Benjamin Franklin was a rock star of a scientist at the birth of our nation. Electricity. No, he didn't invent it or, for that matter discover it, but he did identify it.
image from Wikipedia
And look what our scientists and engineers and inventors have done with it. Light in our homes, cooling, heating, preservation and preparation of food, transportation, communication, access to information from anywhere in the world and the universe.
a fan, a lamp, a computer monitor image from the ESA/Hubble telescope
in my living room
Dr. Franklin had no idea that all these things would come to pass. He just had an idea. And that's what continues to go on to this day. Scientists who discover something today or next week will likely have no idea what wonders can come of their discoveries. Can we deny these possibilities to our children and grandchildren? Imagine babies born without cystic fibrosis, sickle cell anemia, children who do not develop diabetes, grandparents who do not develop dementia. No more cancer.
Those are just the medical marvels. My medical wish list. The other things that will come along I can't even imagine in order to wish for them. Maybe even an Earth that is a healthy habitat for life and colonies of human beings in Space.
Stand with me for Science
P.S. I just got a telephone call rescheduling my post-surgery follow-up. My surgeon, Dr. William Peace is being deployed to Afghanistan. Please keep him and all those in harm's way in your thoughts and prayers.
#atozchallenge
Hi Claudia - the recovery seems to be going well; all the best for Dr Peace and all others in war zones, or at the moment anywhere ... life isn't easy. I've drafted up a fun post on Dr Franklin which should go up sometime after the A-Z is finished ... he was an amazing man.
ReplyDeleteThey did march in London - I hadn't realised, but couldn't have got up to join in ... it is Earth Day as you say ... we need to protect our planet for all our worth .. .cheers Hilary
http://positiveletters.blogspot.co.uk/2017/04/s-for-sheep.html
Science moves forward on collaboration - as you say, one person has an idea, others develop it, sometimes together at the time, or maybe years down the line. How sad that funding for research is often squeezed or jeopardised by political philistines. (Thinking of Brexit - our universities have so many Europeans working in them, and vice versa, but sure there are plenty other examples!)
ReplyDelete"Philistines" is a much kinder word than those that come to my mind.
DeleteThanks for the nice comments on my blog, Impression Evergreen. I've know Courtney for a while through social media and I enjoy her friendship very much. I had a total hip replacement two years ago and I've had a heart pacemaker for 30 years now. Sometimes I feel like I'm more machine than human but without the science my quality of life would not be as good so I feel very lucky. Good luck to you with your recovery and finishing up the A to Z.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Dan Miller.