For the next few weeks, the news cycle will be circling around the Democratic and Republican national conventions. Presumed presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain will stand in the national spotlight to trumpet their experience, patriotism, courage and judgement.
But how did the respective candidates do in science class? That may not your first question, but University of California-Berkeley physics professor Richard Muller says that the man who takes the oath of office in January 2009 should know the difference between a uranium bomb and a plutonium bomb. How can you lead a country away from fossil fuel dependence if you don’t understand solar power, after all?
Dr. Richard Muller’s new book, Physics for Future Presidents, is a guide for the candidates, and interesting reading for those of us more suited to armchair politics.
Read excerpts from Physics for Future Presidents
Watch/listen to Dr. Muller's class lectures
(Photo by Tonyç)
