ABSTRACT
This chapter presents evidence for the vital and often misinterpreted role that the public has to contribute to the evolution of a national system of innovation. Exploring the public understanding of science in South Africa, broad-based inequalities have led to a highly stratified society. The cultural authority of science has evolved since the late 19th century and has been deeply interdependent on public perception and social climate. Attitudes to science were measured using two indices: Index of Scientific Promise and the Index of Scientific Reservation. With the exception of the attitude index, the index of interest in science was positively correlated with the knowledge; informedness; info-source and engagementindices. The relationships between Interest, Information seeking, Informedness and to a lesser degree Engagement is expected as the elements of the public understanding of science could be seen as nested within each other.
