Texas Educators: Neil Armstrong Not a Scientist

"A Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills review team composed of parents and teachers has suggested removing Neil Armstrong from a 'science strand' in a 5th grade social studies book," writes Eric Berger, blogging for the Houston Chronicle.

At issue: The review team says the first man on the moon was not a scientist.

www.livescience.com...

What in the H E double hockey sticks is wrong with Texas.

What is their beef with Armstrong?

IDIOTS!

My God, ignorance is alive...

Armstrong is a well noted scientist! I can't believe how ignorant these people are!

S&F for finding this story!

reply to post by kleverone


That is not the opinion of everyone in the State of Texas.....I assure you.

i simply cannot get my head around this

i hope its not based on religious dogma - because if it is FFS will someone in texas please challenge the " scientific credentials " of :

duane gish
kent hovind

etc etc

It's silly, but then again we're just talking about removing his name from a single 5th grade social studies book. Neil Armstrong was hardly a historical figure in the resolution or creation of any social issues in the United States. The general discussion of space travel and it's social implications is still there, but with less specific details.

... removing Neil Armstrong from a "science strand" in a 5th grade social studies book.

blogs.chron.com...

It's not as if he was stricken from all science in the state. There is no decree or announcement that says he wasn't a scientist. The further we get from 1969, the less prominent he will be as a name.

Neil A. Armstrong is most definitely a scientist. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in aeronautical engineering from Purdue University and a Master of Science degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Southern California. In 1955, he was hired by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (the predecessor of NASA) as a research pilot at the Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory and later transferred to the NACA High Speed Flight Station at Edwards AFB, California, as an Aeronautical Research Scientist engaged in piloting and engineering aspects of numerous aerospace research projects.

here is a link to his credentials...

Neill Armstrong

By all means we can't have somebody who cryptically informs the public that NASA is run by liars appear as any sort of authority in the matters of real "science". He might make our precious little darlings believe in aliens and bases on the moon and that would destroy society. Never mind that he's a living national treasure- he just keeps pushing the line with his reclusive lifestyle and paranoid delusions of huge objects watching them as he walked around on the moon. No, he's no scientist. Scientists keep their mouths shut.
PLEASE!!! WHAT A LOAD OF CRAP!! It just shows to what depths TPTB will sink to. Bad enough that they got the man too scared to make a public disclosure but they can't even leave his hard earned reputation alone.
I call a foul.

Wow some people do get dumber with age. Next they'll say Plato wasn't a philosopher or Van Gogh just painted by numbers. What a bunch of peons.

Batman's a scientist, Neil Armstrong isn't. Hate to break it you all, but Neil Armstrong is famous for acting...the fake moon landing and all.

I am disapppointed in Texas. Although the accept creationism(which I don't have a problem with) I cannot accept that they would acknowledge Neil Armstromg as a scientist.

www.google.com...:scientist&ei=xk26SueHN9Dl8Qau3pmNCg&sa=X&oi=glossary_definition&ct=title

Scientist:

-->a person with advanced knowledge of one or more sciences
wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

-->A scientist, in the broadest sense, refers to any person that engages in a systematic activity to acquire knowledge or an individual that engages in such practices and traditions that are linked to schools of thought or philosophy. ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientist

-->One whose activities make use of the scientific method to answer questions regarding the measurable universe. ...
en.wiktionary.org/wiki/scientist

-->A person who has studied science, especially one who is active in a particular field of investigation.
www.mdanderson.org/patients_public/about_cancer/display.cfm

-->an expert in a field of study
free-english-study.com/vocabulary/academic-vocabulary-11.html

I think an educator ought to be able to use a dictionary!! I would say Neil Armstrong meets any of the above definitions and more!!

Of course Neil Armstrong is a scientist, an engineer and a pioneer. He was also a teacher. How ignorant can people be nowadays... it's utterly pathetic. I suppose they will start calling creationists who talk about floods moving the continents as scientists. Phulleease, someone get me a sick bucket, cos' these texans make me feel sick.

Every time I hear the spin about Tejas succeeding from the U.S. I get all warm and fuzzy inside.
It would be the perfect place for all the ultra-right to go and live and the rest of the 49 states can get on with our lives.
Dare I say it? Mrs. Palin could be the first president, assuming that term limits are for 2 1/2 years that is. And Jerry Jones, owner of the Dallas Cowboys, could be in charge of the treasury.
p.s. My brother lives in San Antonio and when news like this comes out he is just glad that his boys were grown before he moved there and far removed from the school system in the lonely star state.

[edit on 23-9-2009 by zlots331]

Originally posted by pluckynoonez
Batman's a scientist, Neil Armstrong isn't. Hate to break it you all, but Neil Armstrong is famous for acting...the fake moon landing and all.

I'm betting that's what was going through the mind of whoever started this nonsense. Since Texas is also the home of Johnson Space Center, I can't imagine that such an opinion is too popular, but all it really takes is one.

Why is everyone here defending Neil Armstrong? The man stole our childhoods! Think about it, he pulled the ruse that he walked on the moon, which we all know is a lie. Therefore, my cat has more ethos and is more closely aligned with being a scientist than Armstrong can ever be. Wake up. Here that knocking? It's your childhood-self at the door and she or he is pissed off at you.

Originally posted by desertdreamer
reply to post by kleverone

 

That is not the opinion of everyone in the State of Texas.....I assure you.

As a Texan I second that. There are groups of fools no matter where you go, and that is the same for the state of Texas. The majority of people in Texas do not think this way.

reply to post by pluckynoonez

Where is your definitive proof of the moon landing being faked? Show me and change my mind. Far as I'm concerned He's as much a scientist as any
other today minus the fancy schmancy Ivy League degree.

reply to post by pluckynoonez


Plucky, I have known several astronauts, and believe me, there is absolutely no way they could be convinced to "fake" anything! These guys are patriots and boy scouts to their very core!

If, and that is a very big if, but if the landings were faked, the astronauts involved had no idea! They were either in a virtual reality type ride, or they were hypnotized and had memories suggestively placed.

I really don't believe either of those scenarios either. I think the landing was real, but I am absolutely certain that Armstrong thought it was real either way!

Originally posted by dbates
Neil Armstrong was hardly a historical figure in the resolution or creation of any social issues in the United States.

Certainly he was...his efforts were the culmination of both the vanquishing of the Eisenhower-era 'Egghead' treatment of academe, and the public appreciation of knowledge for it's own sake. Never mind the excitement and national pride generated by the space race. I think you are being far too dismissive.

The further we get from 1969, the less prominent he will be as a name.

First man on the moon.

We all that take note that Christopher Columbus' legacy has only lasted some 500 years...and that's knowing that the Vikings got here first!