“Scientific progress is one essential key to our security as a nation, to our better health, to more jobs, to a higher standard of living, and to our cultural progress.” (Vannevar Bush, from Science, the Endless Frontier, 1945.)
“We’ve arranged a global civilization in which most crucial elements profoundly depend on science and technology. We have also arranged things so that almost no one understands science and technology. This is a prescription for disaster.” (Carl Sagan, from The Demon-Haunted World, 1995.)
We the undersigned members of Monmouth Amateur Paleontologists’ Society (MAPS) and associates believe that the closing of Academy of Natural Sciences (ANS) would be a disaster for public education and scientific research. Drexel University and the ANS administration were entrusted with the stewardship of an icon of American science, especially with respect to paleontology. It is a historical gem which cannot be replaced. To deny the public access to this institution is criminal and a desertion of duty.
Moreover, it is a betrayal of the public’s trust, especially given that there was scant forewarning of this decision to allow time for raising the necessary funds to perpetuate ANS. When the MAPS collection owner, Paleontological Research Institute (PRI) in Ithaca, NY, was facing serious financial issues, PRI made their stakeholders aware of the issues which allowed time and resources for PRI to recover and continue operating.
Our fervent hope is that Drexel University and the ANS administration will seriously reconsider their decision to shut down this beacon of light amidst the darkness of ignorance and superstition. If not reversed, this decision will go down in infamy in the annals of American science.
Ralph Johnson, Collection Curator, Monmouth Amateur Paleontologists’ Society, West Long Branch, New Jersey, with 15 members and 74 associates and friends of the society as signatories.