Comments on: The Smithsonian Institution Is Not Smarter Than a Fifth Grader

By: the real cmf

the real cmf — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 20:31:16 +0000

Ellery: “The Smithsonian, still smarter than a fifth-grader”…you had better be a fourth grader, or I will forever think that comment was just uncalled for! Now go sit there at the desk by the wall.

By: mark

mark — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 13:01:09 +0000

Shouldn’t it be “Prenoachian”?

By: Ellery

Ellery — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 09:46:49 +0000

Perhaps unfortunately some exhibit designers, like many of those at the Science Museum of Minnesota, are artists or designers by training, not biologists or geologists.But I’m much more troubled by two exhibits I just saw at the Vancouver aquarium titled “Sharks: Beauty by Design” and “Sea Turtles: Beauty by Design,” implying that their forms were designed, not adaptations to their environment.

By: Becca

Becca — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 09:21:32 +0000

Great headline.

By: Greg Laden

Greg Laden — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 07:28:50 +0000

Ellery:I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard that. “Oh, really, I knew the answer was ‘D’ … I have no idea why I chose ‘B’ … Can’t I get the points anyway????”

By: manigen

manigen — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 05:00:06 +0000

If they knew, why didn’t they do anything about it? Were they all just too busy?

By: Ellery

Ellery — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 23:01:50 +0000

Actually, as the article states:”While no previous visitors to the museum had brought up the error, it has long rankled the paleobiology department’s staff, who noticed it even before the Tower of Time was erected 27 years ago…”The Smithsonian, still smarter than a fifth-grader (TM).