Children often define themselves by math and science: those who jibe with it, and those who don't. As a kid, I fell into the latter camp. I thought of myself as an artistic type, and in high school, I took pride in my ability to pass math and science courses by writing solid essays on scientific principles. When it came to the experiments and problems themselves, I relied on my much more science-savvy lab partners.

As I got older, my interest in math and science remained in the realm of theory. I grew to love the ideas, but I was still terrified of anything too hands-on. When I was in college, I took a course on Kurt Gödel's "incompleteness theorem" -- a 77-year-old proof establishing the necessary incompleteness of any formal system -- which could be used to fulfill either a math or humanities distribution. Thus the class had two camps: math majors squeezing in their one humanities course, and people like me, trying to satisfy the math requirement.

President-elect Obama seems determined to close that divide, or at least bridge it with his new science team. Most news on the team, which was announced this weekend, has focused on how they will work to help disease, the environment and slow global warming. But read between the lines, and you'll notice a deeper, systemic intention as well. He emphasizes the highest purpose of science: "The search for knowledge, truth, and a greater understanding of the world around us."

In other words, it all comes down to education.