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SILICON CHIP www.siliconchip.com.au Publisher & Editor-in-Chief Leo Simpson, B.Bus., FAICD Production Manager Greg Swain, B.Sc.(Hons.) Technical Editor Peter Smith Technical Staff John Clarke, B.E.(Elec.) Ross Tester Jim Rowe, B.A., B.Sc, VK2ZLO Reader Services Ann Jenkinson Advertising Enquiries Glyn Smith Phone (02) 9939 3295 Mobile 0431 792 293 glyn<at>siliconchip.com.au Regular Contributors Brendan Akhurst Rodney Champness, VK3UG Julian Edgar, Dip.T.(Sec.), B.Ed, Grad.Dip.Jnl Kevin Poulter Mike Sheriff, B.Sc, VK2YFK Stan Swan SILICON CHIP is published 12 times a year by Silicon Chip Publications Pty Ltd. ACN 003 205 490. ABN 49 003 205 490 All material copyright ©. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the written consent of the publisher. Printing: Hannanprint, Noble Park, Victoria. Distribution: Network Distribution Company. Subscription rates: $83.00 per year in Australia. For overseas rates, see the subscription page in this issue. Editorial office: Unit 1, 234 Harbord Rd, Brookvale, NSW 2100. Postal address: PO Box 139, Collaroy Beach, NSW 2097. Phone (02) 9939 3295. Fax (02) 9939 2648. E-mail: silicon<at>siliconchip.com.au ISSN 1030-2662 Publisher’s Letter Science teachers should stick to the truth There has been considerable debate in recent months about the teaching of history in Australian schools, particularly involving the discovery and early colonisation of this country. If you are over 40, you probably learnt that the British discovered, colonised and explored the country, went through great hardships, developed the great pastoral and agricultural activities such as wheat and wool-growing and so on. But that’s all changed. Now the kids are taught that the British invaded the country and basically raped, pillaged and generally displaced the aborigines. Naturally, there has been a backlash against this line and hopefully history teaching will be more balanced in the future. But much remains to be done to change the basic attitudes of teachers to align it with what most everyday Australians believe. So much of their teaching (and the syllabus, for that matter) has a far left-wing bias which many teachers pick up when they are going through their training. Now I have known about this left-leaning for a long time and came up against it when my three daughters were going through school. But I never had any reason to suspect that this left-leaning intruded into the teaching of science. I have now just been shocked to learn that some science teachers believe and teach their pupils that the American space trips to the Moon never happened! In other words, they believe and promote the conspiracy theories which flourish on the internet that the space trips were all smoke and mirrors and that the TV coverage that millions of people watched in 1969 was a fake. If you read some of the cited “evidence” about the conspiracies, you have to seriously wonder why any well-educated science teacher would bother to give it a moment’s credence. That any teacher could seriously pass it on to their impressionable students is simply unconscionable. This sort of teaching is essentially based on an irrational dislike of the United States and everything it stands for. But while the USA was the winner in the space race, many other countries contributed and competed. Were they all part of the same conspiracy? And what of all the other developments in space since the Moon trips? Are they all suspect as well, to these morons? How can you know whether this rubbish is being taught to your own son, daughter or grand-children? Unless you have regular discussions with them, you will never know. You won’t know by going through their textbooks or reading the subject syllabus (no-one can understand that!). This is a serious problem. It is bad enough that the teaching of science and technology in this country is being so seriously dumbed down or just about eliminated, but when lies are being taught we have to call a halt. Clearly, the whole approach to teaching science must go back to basics. We need a complete review of the way science is taught and what is taught, just as we do for history. Maybe we can start by polling science teachers to see if they think the American moon trips were a fake. Those that do should be fired. Leo Simpson * Recommended and maximum price only. 2  Silicon Chip siliconchip.com.au