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Pastimes : Science and Innovation from Around the World

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From: TimF	8/29/2006 7:17:20 PM
	of 149

"In the summer of 1991, as I was settling in with a drink to watch the evening news with the channel mistakenly set to CBS, there was a story by the nominal CBS health science correspondent, Edie Magnus. The FDA was in the process of tossing out yet another baby with bathwater by banning L-tryptophan sales because one outfit in Japan mistakenly released a badly manufactured batch containing highly toxic synthetic byproducts. Ms. Magnus solemnly announced that L-tryptophan was an amino acid and that amino acids were dangerous chemicals. After I finished screaming at the TV and mopped up my spilled drink from the couch, I faxed a letter to Ms. Magnus, cc'ing network officials, suggesting that she be very wary the next time she consumed a hamburger or some other protein-laden food, and suggesting they do a follow-up to clarify so as not to incite a nationwide panic. (Neither broadcast follow-up nor reply was forthcoming, and she remained at CBS for another few years.) Hers was a good example of how not to explain science to a general audience, because presumably, as was the case with certain of my teachers, the explainer was herself pretty much clueless." pipeline.corante.com

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