3 ms·

He entered the project based on aptitude and left based on politics. That's why it's unsettling.

mturmon 16y ago
Here's a good summary of the team Steven Chu, himself a Nobelist, appointed: http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/05/mission_impossible_obama_taps_crack_team_of_scient.php http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/05/mission_im... Note that Katz is called the "What am I doing here" person. And note, the above summary piece was posted in advance of those writings coming out. I think the real issue is, why did Chu ask Katz to join the team in the first place? He's really not got the same track record as the others on the team. Not even close.
- billpaetzke 16y ago
  The simplest explanation is that Katz was picked because he has a high aptitude for physics problem-solving. Why was he picked over someone else with a better resume? I don't know. If you could prove otherwise, then we could steer this discussion in another direction.
- lutorm 16y ago
  Sometimes it's good to pick people who are experts in related fields but with no direct knowledge of the issue -- it's a source of unbiased ideas that can be valuable. My impression is that that's the whole idea behind this JASON team, to bring together people from various fields of science who all bring their particular viewpoint to a problem. It's the whole idea behind the word "interdisciplinary"...
  - brg 16y ago
    Exactly. Why was Feynman on the Roger's commission? QED has little to do with rocket science.
  - mturmon 16y ago
    <blockquote> In the days when Sussman was a novice Minsky once came to him as he sat hacking at the PDP-6. "What are you doing?", asked Minsky. "I am training a randomly wired neural net to play Tic-Tac-Toe." "Why is the net wired randomly?", asked Minsky. "I do not want it to have any preconceptions of how to play." Minsky shut his eyes. "Why do you close your eyes?", Sussman asked his teacher. "So the room will be empty." At that moment, Sussman was enlightened. </blockquote> My point: not to confuse "no preconceptions" with "not much directly usable knowledge." Look at the resumes of the people on the team. You've got the head of one of the premier research institutions in the nation (Sandia), a national medal of science winner who has consulted about the Kuwait oil well disaster, a robotics engineer, and a petroleum engineer. And an astrophysicist. About Feynman, remember, he was a Nobelist and widely understood, when he was appointed, to be the most brilliant physicist of the latter half of the 20th century. His university (Caltech) runs a NASA facility, JPL, where his sister and a lot of his colleagues worked.
- yummyfajitas 16y ago
  Actually, they all seem to be "what am I doing here" people. Three are nuclear engineers of varying sorts, one does superconductivity (also military stuff, including nuclear weapons), one does nanotechnology. Only George Cooper seems to have any remotely relevant expertise; he studies drilling into rocks. The main difference between the Katz and the rest is that Katz admitted he has no expertise. He's a very smart guy, but he sure doesn't know how to play politics.
  - mturmon 16y ago
    This is not a fair summary of the facts. One person you describe as a nuclear engineer also did this: "In 1991, Garwin convened a symposium of experts to discus ways to stem oil flows from Kuwait wells, set on fire by Iraq during the Gulf War." One other person you describe as a nuclear engineer was also head of Sandia for 5 years. You will end up with a broad knowledge of engineering techniques in a wide-ranging position like that; robotic handling techniques for nuclear material are something DOE labs know a lot about. Another person is a robotics engineer; again, highly relevant here.
    - yummyfajitas 16y ago
      Oil fires != underwater oil spills. It's a totally different problem. As for being the head of Sandia and picking up general engineering skills, I don't disagree they are all smart people with generally applicable skills in the physical sciences. That doesn't mean they are underwater oil spill experts. Also, Katz is an expert in fluid flows. That's just as relevant as robotics.
crystalis 16y ago
If you're looking for a balanced outside view, and find that outside view less balanced than initially claimed...

Here's a good summary of the team Steven Chu, himself a Nobelist, appointed: http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/05/mission_impossible_obama_taps_crack_team_of_scient.php http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/05/mission_im... Note that Katz is called the "What am I doing here" person. And note, the above summary piece was posted in advance of those writings coming out. I think the real issue is, why did Chu ask Katz to join the team in the first place? He's really not got the same track record as the others on the team. Not even close.

billpaetzke 16y ago
The simplest explanation is that Katz was picked because he has a high aptitude for physics problem-solving. Why was he picked over someone else with a better resume? I don't know. If you could prove otherwise, then we could steer this discussion in another direction.
lutorm 16y ago
Sometimes it's good to pick people who are experts in related fields but with no direct knowledge of the issue -- it's a source of unbiased ideas that can be valuable. My impression is that that's the whole idea behind this JASON team, to bring together people from various fields of science who all bring their particular viewpoint to a problem. It's the whole idea behind the word "interdisciplinary"...
- brg 16y ago
  Exactly. Why was Feynman on the Roger's commission? QED has little to do with rocket science.
- mturmon 16y ago
  <blockquote> In the days when Sussman was a novice Minsky once came to him as he sat hacking at the PDP-6. "What are you doing?", asked Minsky. "I am training a randomly wired neural net to play Tic-Tac-Toe." "Why is the net wired randomly?", asked Minsky. "I do not want it to have any preconceptions of how to play." Minsky shut his eyes. "Why do you close your eyes?", Sussman asked his teacher. "So the room will be empty." At that moment, Sussman was enlightened. </blockquote> My point: not to confuse "no preconceptions" with "not much directly usable knowledge." Look at the resumes of the people on the team. You've got the head of one of the premier research institutions in the nation (Sandia), a national medal of science winner who has consulted about the Kuwait oil well disaster, a robotics engineer, and a petroleum engineer. And an astrophysicist. About Feynman, remember, he was a Nobelist and widely understood, when he was appointed, to be the most brilliant physicist of the latter half of the 20th century. His university (Caltech) runs a NASA facility, JPL, where his sister and a lot of his colleagues worked.
yummyfajitas 16y ago
Actually, they all seem to be "what am I doing here" people. Three are nuclear engineers of varying sorts, one does superconductivity (also military stuff, including nuclear weapons), one does nanotechnology. Only George Cooper seems to have any remotely relevant expertise; he studies drilling into rocks. The main difference between the Katz and the rest is that Katz admitted he has no expertise. He's a very smart guy, but he sure doesn't know how to play politics.
- mturmon 16y ago
  This is not a fair summary of the facts. One person you describe as a nuclear engineer also did this: "In 1991, Garwin convened a symposium of experts to discus ways to stem oil flows from Kuwait wells, set on fire by Iraq during the Gulf War." One other person you describe as a nuclear engineer was also head of Sandia for 5 years. You will end up with a broad knowledge of engineering techniques in a wide-ranging position like that; robotic handling techniques for nuclear material are something DOE labs know a lot about. Another person is a robotics engineer; again, highly relevant here.
  - yummyfajitas 16y ago
    Oil fires != underwater oil spills. It's a totally different problem. As for being the head of Sandia and picking up general engineering skills, I don't disagree they are all smart people with generally applicable skills in the physical sciences. That doesn't mean they are underwater oil spill experts. Also, Katz is an expert in fluid flows. That's just as relevant as robotics.

crystalis 16y ago

If you're looking for a balanced outside view, and find that outside view less balanced than initially claimed...