Steps and Missteps Towards an Emerging Profession

Mercury, September/October 2005 Table of Contents

Courtesy of the ASP and Project ASTRO™.

by Andrew Fraknoi

Every few years, the National Science Board issues a snapshot of the state of science in the U. S. called Science and Engineering Indicators. The most recent (2004) volume makes for fascinating reading for those who enjoy nationwide statistics; it is available free on the Web at www.nsf.gov/sbe/srs/seind04.

The good news is that the public is overwhelmingly positive about science:

• 85% say science and technology will make our lives better and our work more interesting;
• 72% say the benefits of research outweigh any harmful results; and
• 36% say the government is not spending enough money on science research (while only 14% say it is spending too much).

The bad news is that the public's understanding of science in our country is disturbingly low. The report concludes that less than 1/5 of adult Americans can be considered minimally science literate in the sense required for participation in civic society. Think about that — 80% of our fellow citizens are not really familiar with the basic concepts of science needed to vote intelligently on ballot measures. Only 22% of adults can correctly explain what a molecule is, for example. And two thirds of adult Americans cannot correctly explain the scientific method to an interviewer.

Teachers also have problems with science ideas. In a recent survey of Wisconsin school teachers who had signed up for a space-science enrichment program, fewer than 20% of the elementary teachers and fewer than 25% of the middle school science teachers knew, for example, that radio waves travel at the same speed as light.

Read the entire article (pdf format).

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