but he wasn't dead then.

I'm actually in Dawn's group (but not on this project), and have experience with Penn PR people trying to hype research. Dawn personally doesn't make these breathless claims, and even she is surprised at some of the stuff she's seen in print.

The University of Michigan Press is the repository of PhD theses from all over, including mine. As part of the class-action suit Google is getting permission -- one author at a time -- to scan all these theses, which are OOP but not public domain. I wonder if any of them are included in the 400k claimed in the story.

Speaking as a Physics/Engineering type slumming in a postdoc position for $40k... I remember the "Gathering Storm" report coming about and was rather miffed at the conclusion that we needed more scientists and engineers. It was obvious to me that the market could not support additional workers. If we needed more Sci/Eng experts, then there should be plenty of, say, $70+k jobs for holders of advanced degrees (esp ones in this super-hyped nanotech field). They are out there, but most require a few additional years of dues-paying as postdocs. As if spending 5 years in grad school making $20k isn't a big enough financial hit. If I didn't know better I'd think the "Gathering Storm" thing was a ruse to depress wages. Then again, I actually don't know better...