Three prominent researchers warn about the current existential threat in the United States
Helmut Schwarz has been reading about what happened to science during the rise of Adolf Hitler, almost a century ago.
The German chemist just received the Frontiers of Knowledge Award from the BBVA Foundation in Spain, due to his contributions to the field of catalysis. For him, there are parallels between the situation in Nazi Germany and Trump’s United States.
“From 1900 to 1932, a third of all Nobel Prizes went to Germany, more than to the U.S. and the U.K. combined,” he tells EL PAÍS. He and two other scientists sat down with EL PAÍS in Bilbao, where they received their awards.
“When Hitler came to power,” he continues, “German science — which led the world — completely disintegrated. But Hitler thought that wouldn’t be a problem,” he continues. Now, Donald Trump’s administration views universities — supposed hotbeds of progressive ideology — as the enemy. He wants to bring them under his control. “In my opinion, the threat isn’t immediate, but it’s very important in the long term,” Schwarz adds.
Oh boy I’d love to hear Donald J Trump’s exact thoughts on the scientific method. Every damn thing he’s has to say about it will be absolute gold.
He would just parrot whatever the last person he spoke to said about it.
If he didn’t talk to anyone about it beforehand, he would just talk about how “beautiful” our scientific methods are.
I can give it a try.
“My uncle was a scientist at MIT, so I think I know science better than most people. Also, magnets stop working if they get wet.”