People who meet with Representative Newt Gingrich (R-GA) always seem to be impressed with his enthusiasm for science, and members of the National Science Board (NSB)-which last week held its first-ever meeting with the Speaker of the House-are no exception.
"He's a visionary," says Stanford University chemist Richard Zare, outgoing president of the NSB, which oversees the National Science Foundation. "He's bubbling with ideas, and his enthusiasm is infectious." Hosting a 40-minute visit in his office, Gingrich encouraged the board to "think big'' in areas ranging from informal science education to information technology. Board members did not press him on such details as a Senate bill to double civilian R&D spending, which lacks a House version, or the Administration's plan to use the proceeds of a tobacco settlement for research, which Republicans oppose. "The discussion was at a higher, more abstract level," says Zare.
