Wendy Schmidt: Three centuries of science is something to celebrate

Wendy Schmidt is a philanthropist and co-founder of Schmidt Sciences, Schmidt Ocean Institute and the Schmidt Family Foundation, which she leads as president. 

Three centuries of science is something to celebrate

George Washington died at the age of 67 not knowing that dinosaurs ever existed. 

In 1799, our country’s first president was suffering from a sore throat, likely the result of a simple bacterial infection. Washington’s doctors selected a treatment that we now know contributed to his death: bloodletting. 

As the semiquincentennial of our country arrives, it is worth considering how far we’ve come, even if we have a long way to go. And examining our history not through the lens of politics or wars but rather through science offers a universal way to celebrate our achievements. Reflecting on all we’ve learned and all we have yet to learn, let’s forge ahead into a better future by supporting science and scientists who are advancing our ability to protect and enhance our lives. 

But first, back to George Washington, who was also treated in his final day alive with mercury chloride, an emetic, an enema and a paste of Spanish flies applied to his throat. Approaching death, he asked that he not be buried within the first 72 hours, just in case he wasn’t actually dead, which was a harder thing to ascertain then. If he looked to the stars before he died, he would never have known that anything existed beyond the Milky Way. Scientists were only just starting to consider that the Earth was........

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