Freeman Dyson in his own words

I've mentioned Freeman Dyson a couple of times recently — in the previous post and last March. Here is Freeman Dyson in his own words (August 8, 2007):

HERETICAL THOUGHTS ABOUT SCIENCE AND SOCIETY

He first talks about the importance of heretics. Feynman would have agreed.

Then he talks about three heresies:

1. "All the fuss about global warming is grossly exaggerated." Dyson does an excellent job of briefly describing all the various aspects of global warming, from polar ice to topsoil.

2. "The wet Sahara." Dyson says the Sahara was wet 6,000 years ago; that an increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide might bring back such a climate; and that this might be a good thing. In this part of the paper, he writes about the philosophical differences between naturalists and humanists.

3. The third heresy is not about global warming. It is about global dominance. "The United States has less than a century left of its turn as top nation." He has some good thoughts for today's young people.

Freeman Dyson begins this paper with a story about the famous astronomer Tommy Gold, and he concludes with a story about the famous biologist Francis Crick. It is a good read, and I recommend reading the whole thing.