In the middle of the economic crisis—focused on banking—most Americans do not know about another important economic meltdown.

“…innovation could be at risk in modern science, as the number of successful young scientists dramatically shrinks,” says an article in The Wall Street Journal. Although it is indeed a business-oriented publication, the newspaper never takes its eye off the sciences. That should prove the importance of the sciences to making money. The Journal cares.

America never has been a country which fretted much about math and science. Let the brainiacs handle it for us while we think about other things. Culture. Movies. Books.

It is way past time to fret.

On the other hand, if you have a budding scientist in your family, he or she may find, career-wise, the nation is waiting for that child to grow up and show up in our laboratories.

Future successes in innovations of all kinds—the engine of our economy—depends on a supply of young, bright scientists.

The history of science, which includes medicine, has a lot to teach us. Besides, this is fun to read.

The Wall Street Journal

“When James Watson was 24 years old, he spent more time thinking about women than work, according to his memoir “Genes, Girls and Gamow.” His hair was unkempt and his letters home were full of references to “wine-soaked lunches.” But when Mr. Watson wasn’t chasing after girls, he was hard at work in his Cambridge lab, trying to puzzle out the structure of DNA. In 1953, when Mr. Watson was only 25, he co-wrote one of the most important scientific papers of all time.

“Scientific revolutions are often led by the youngest scientists. Isaac Newton was 23 when he began inventing calculus; Albert Einstein published several of his most important papers at the tender age of 26; Werner Heisenberg pioneered quantum mechanics in his mid-20s. At the time, these men were all inexperienced and immature, and yet they managed to transform their fields.

“Youth and creativity have long been interwoven; as Samuel Johnson once said, “Youth is the time of enterprise and hope.” Unburdened by old habits and prejudices, a mind in fresh bloom is poised to see the world anew and come up with fresh innovations—solutions to problems that have sometimes eluded others for ages.”

Source: Wall Street Journal, February 19, 2010