Science education: too much of too little

By all measures attempted, scientific literacy of the American public is sadly wanting. The vast majority of our secondary school children and adults have no knowledge of most of the basic terms or concepts of science. The reasons for this shortcoming are many but prominent among them are sadly deficient texts, teachers untrained in the subject matter they teach, and college and university scientists who divorce themselves from the problem, although probably deploring it. Our institutions are no aid. They reward scientific productivity (read: number of papers published per year and research dollars), not teaching. Some suggested cures are production of better texts, training of science teachers in the field in which they teach, and, most importantly, involvement of scientists in the process. We must be willing to spend some of our time with secondary school pupils and their teachers. All will gain from the experience.