March In April

On a cool and damp April 22nd,
right here in River City...

This sentiment, and others like it, would meet with objection.

Less than 20 minutes prior to the gathering, the crowd was quite sparse.

But the crowd rapidly filled in quite nicely,
at least in part because the nature of time is important to scientists.

Speakers spoke.

As billed, the "March for Science aimed to re-familiarize citizens with the importance of science in everyday life and in policymaking."  More pragmatically, it was aimed at decrying the potential reduction in funding for the sciences, and the trend toward discounting the value of science and conclusions drawn from data obtained by science.  

Some watched and listened with rapt attention.

Though not expressly political,
it was not hard to determine the leanings of most of the crowd.

Lab coats were popular attire.

Brain hats were also popular.
Shouldn't they be gray?

The event had the feel of a jovial family outing.  People were in good spirits, and there was a laid-back sense of camaraderie.  Even though a few boo-birds called out at the beginning of Republican State Senator Joe Robach's remarks, they were soon drowned out by the cheers at his environmental message.

And there were signs.  Signs of the times.  Signs of protest.  Signs of concern.  The signs did most of the talking, though there were occasional chants.  "Science Matters!"

All seemed to enjoy reading each other's signs and appreciating the clever messages.  

I'll let the signs speak for themselves.

Mr. Globehead's arms did not get tired.

I suppose the timing of the march to coincide with Earth Day
had something to do with the many environmental messages.

Not a very religious gathering, either.

You knew there'd be some of these, didn't you?

A broad spectrum of ages was represented.
I helped anchor the other end of said spectrum.

I love the sentiment on this shirt.

Only when we began to march did I realize how many people had joined in.
There would have been even more
if the control group had not been required to stay home.

The march made a 92.3 degree turn along the way.

There were chants as we marched.  

From the all purpose:
"What does democracy look like?"
"THIS IS WHAT DEMOCRACY LOOKS LIKE!"

To the science-specific:
"What do we want?"
"SCIENCE!"
"When do we want it?"
"AFTER A PEER-REVIEWED STUDY!"

What do you think the cornice man thought of the parade?

Skip this one if you don't remember the mathematical reference.

Note the molecule necklace on the young woman in the background.

A big crowd favorite.

And, of course, my own.