Is it really essential that the public understand science? Why not let scientists do their thing, and let the rest of the world get on with their business too? Unfortunately, in the modern world, that is a path we can ill afford to follow. Whether we realize it or not, science is too much a part of the fabric of our lives to be shunted aside as a curious sideshow. The economy, national defense, environment, and our health are more than ever before dependent on scientific progress. The emergent role of information technology in our economic productivity, the feasibility of a ballistic missile defense shield, the human contribution to climate change through the combustion of fossil fuels, the implications of the newly mapped human genome all should be reminders that we cannot divorce ourselves from science, even if we might like to. And yet for all of the obvious relevance of science to our daily lives, many people remain ill equipped to assimilate much beyond the rudiments of science.

If, as I have argued in the previous chapter, our schools have generally failed to develop an awareness and appreciation of science, one can envision a second line of defense against scientific illiteracy: scientists working closely with the mass media to inform and educate the public.