Scientific Illiteracy

There is a very interesting book by Chris Mooney and Sheril Kirshenbaum that will be published in July. It is titled Unscientific America: How Scientific Illiteracy Threatens America. The authors explore the rift between science and mainstream American culture, and even refer to C. P. Snow’s famous book, The Two Cultures. I think this book will be especially relevant in that here we have a science writer and editor teamed with a professional scientist exploring the world of science in the very beginning of a new administration in Washington that has vowed to incorporate science into its decision-making, unlike previous administration. In fact, if you haven’t already, you might want to explore Mooney’s previous book, The Republican War on Science, which was a powerful exhortation on how science was largely ignored some some years.

You can visit their blog at Discover Magazine and explore their review and interpretation of science, technology and the future.

For science teachers, I think this will be a valuable book as we think about the nature of science in our schools, and what we might do to help students develop a scientific literacy that is relevant to their lives, and to the issues that are current, and will have a lasting impact on their future.