ABSTRACT
Science-a term I use here to refer to the natural sciences-explains a great deal about the world. But what explains science’s success at finding good explanations? A resolution of this conundrum is far from a purely academic matter. Among the concrete issues that call for concrete answers are the following:
1 What should every educated citizen know of or about science? 2 What should science teachers know of and about science? What about science writers? Or journalists in general? 3 How much of society’s resources should be devoted to science? To what sort of science-exploratory or applied? In
which fields? Physics? Biology? Chemistry? On attempts to find a cure for cancer? For AIDS? For heart disease? 4 What place should science have in the curricula of elementary (primary) schools? Of secondary or high schools? Of
colleges?
