A postscript to a recent column on scientific illiteracy in the media. William Hurt narrates the look at Einstein's scientific achievements and his politics. After all, Menlo Park is just a few miles north of Princeton, where Einstein hung his hat. So the writer was nearly correct. Let's relax and allow for approximations.
Precision is for nerds and wonks.
Come to think of it, I'm not sure that the above newspaper item appeared on the 20th. It might have been the l9th. Sometimes the consequences of scientific illiteracy take on a more sinister aspect, especially when coupled with paranoia and hysteria. Shortly after the Oklahoma City explosion, a tourist of Arab descent named Ibraham Ahmad was arrested in London on the grounds that his luggage contained materials used for bomb making. Apparently the customs officials couldn't tell the difference between telephone wires and bomb fuses.