History, Space, and Getting Things Wrong

In today’s episode of How To Be Wrong we welcome Dr. Steven Dick, retired Chief Historian at NASA and one of the leading historians of space exploration. Our conversation ranges from Steve’s experiences having his initial dissertation proposal rejected as not focusing on a “legitimate” topic (the history of thinking about extraterrestrials) to his experiences at NASA following the Columbia disaster. Our conversation also moves into one of the more serious problems of our time—the growing tendency of science denial among some segments of society.

John W. Traphagan, Ph.D. is Professor and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Fellow in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Texas at Austin, where he is also a professor in the Program in Human Dimensions of Organizations.