ABSTRACT
Science, it seems, is in the news these days. Reports of further cancer risks, pollution problems, and environmental nightmares compete for space in the headlines with the technical triumphs of modern science: miracle medical cures, computer wizardry, and awe-inspiring discoveries about the origins of the human species and the universe itself. But science in this day and age is as commonplace as it is extraordinary. From the scientifically engineered food we eat to the space age materials like Goretex™ and Kevlar™ that clothe and shelter us, modern science and its technical creations have become ubiquitious, indeed indispensible, if also largely taken for granted, aspects of everyday life-at least in the industrialized world. Yet despite this success, because of it in fact, the sciences are met with increasing public unease and skepticism. Assurances from the grave men in white lab coats are no longer sufficient to ease public concern about toxic chemicals, nuclear contamination, and the other environmental “side effects” of industrial society.
