Newt Gingrich hasn't been Speaker of the House for a while. He was chased out of office in November 1998, trailed by a vague but persistent ethical cloud. Depending upon your political views, you most likely recall Gingrich in one of two ways: either as the brilliant revolutionary who overturned a complacent, morally bankrupt Democratic order in the House of Representatives or as the power-hungry backbencher who unleashed the attack dogs of partisanship on the Capitol. Of course, Gingrich is a large enough personality to warrant a bit of both descriptions and then some.
The former Speaker is still entrenched in Washington, D.C., and what he does and says still matters. He is active on the lecture circuit, writes regularly, and has instant access to a wide array of top-tier policymakers. Most are Republican, but lately Gingrich has found common cause on an issue or two with, to use one notable example, Democratic senator Hillary Clinton. It's a pairing that serves them both. Gingrich, too, is rumored to be considering a run for president in 2008. He is well aware of the benefits of a bipartisan stroll down the middle of the road.
Love him or hate him, Gingrich is never dull. In Congress, he was passionate about science and technology in a way that politicians rarely are. And in books like Winning the Future (Regnery Publishing, 2005), he has used his great talent for communication to convey not only passion but also new and interesting directions in policy. His influence was once enormous. It may be yet again.
Where did you get your passion for science?
It started as a passion for animals and grew into an interest in paleontology and how life evolved. I began to realize how much science and technology change everything around us. The pure beauty of the natural world and the intellectual elegance of understanding how things work, combined with the power of science and technology to dramatically expand our opportunities, has kept me enthralled.
Who are your guiding lights in science?
The first was Raymond Ditmars, a former curator of reptiles at the Bronx Zoo. I read all his books. I wrote a letter to him when I was about 13; I got a loving note back from the zoo pointing out that Ditmars had died in 1942, the year before I was born.
If you'd gone into science instead of politics, where do you think you would have ended up?
I would have been a naturalist. Edward O. Wilson is probably the closest to my model. I really love paleontology and animals and plants and the complexity of ecosystems.
Do you view evolution as "just a theory" or as the best explanation for how we came to be?
Evolution certainly seems to express the closest understanding we can now have. But it's changing too. The current tree of life is not anything like a 19th-century Darwinian tree. We're learning a lot about how systems evolve and don't evolve. Cockroaches became successful several hundred million years ago and just stopped evolving.
Where do you come down on teaching intelligent design in schools? Do you think the ruling in the Dover, Pennsylvania, case was appropriate?
I believe evolution should be taught as science, and intelligent design should be taught as philosophy. Francis Collins's new book, The Language of God, is a fine statement that combines a belief in God with a belief in evolution. I do not know enough about the Dover case to critique the judge's decision, but I am generally cautious about unelected judges establishing community standards—that is the duty of elected officials.
You have called for a dramatic overhaul of math and science education in the United States. What do you propose?
I've advocated, for example, paying kids in 7th through 12th grade the equivalent of what they would make working at McDonald's if they take math and science and get a B or better. Overnight you would change the culture of poor neighborhoods in America. We ought to be honest and say math and science are harder. They're extraordinarily valuable to the country as national security and economic matters. Cultures get what they pay for. We currently pay for rock stars, movie stars, and football and basketball players. Shouldn't being a child prodigy in math be at least as important as being a child prodigy in basketball? Also, I'd allow anyone with substantive knowledge to participate. If you're a retired Ph.D. in physics and you'd like to come in one hour a day to teach physics, I'd let you. No union dues. No credentialing. And I'd argue that if you let everyone in the country who knows physics teach physics, with no credentialing, you'd have a better outcome. Finally, there's no reason to believe that an 1820 school model has any relevance to the 21st century. It's terrific only if you think kids today are going to work in a textile mill. School should mimic reality, not defy it. Almost everyone you know who wants to learn either learns part-time or by immersing themselves for three to five days. They don't go and sit for one hour a day ad nauseam.
