ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses museum education not as a museum person but as a science writer, teacher, and researcher in the general field of "public understanding of science". It also discusses the current state of public understanding of science activities, putting special emphasis on how reformulations of the issues can help us find better ways of conceptualizing what our task should be. Beginning in the 1950s, a series of surveys of public attitudes toward science showed that the public "demanded" more information about science. The chapter is not the place to argue through the implications of taking the audience's perspective on our subjects. Recent work in the public understanding of science leads to several research, political, and practical agendas. Movements in the field of public understanding of science have led us to a greater appreciation of the audience's role in our activities.
