This pugnacious antipathy toward scientists, research funding and universities threatens to undercut the very advantages that have made the U.S. such a dominant technological power over the last century. Just as Hasan Ibn al-Haytham’s achievements draw a sharp contrast with the Middle East’s current lagging position in science, sepia-colored nostalgia for Isaac Newton will ring bitterly hollow if the West turns away from Newton’s legacy. A civilization is only as great as its last failure.
It’s absurd to claim otherwise — especially now, as America turns away from Newton’s legacy.
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