William Atkins
Sunday, 12 July 2009 19:40
Science -
Biology
Page 2 of 3
However, there is a big perception difference between what the public thinks of science in the United States versus what U.S. scientists think of science in the United States.
Only 17% of the public thinks that U.S. achievements in science are the best in the world. On the other hand, 49% of U.S. scientists stated that the United States leads the world in scientific achievements.
About 70% of the U.S. public holds scientists and engineers as among the highest regarded professions in the United States. Members of the military were the highest ranked at 84%, while business leaders were at the lowest ranking at 21%, even lower than lawyers at 23%.
However, about 85% of the scientists that took part in the survey stated that the public was largely ignorant of science, and that this ignorance is a major problem in American society.
The PEW article contains a 12-question “
Science Knowledge ” quiz on general science. Are you knowledgeable or ignorant of science? This may help you decide.
Author’s note: I took the quiz and got all twelve questions correct, as did 10% of the public. The questions are general science questions that are taught in the U.S. school system and are regularly discussed on TV science shows and in newspapers and magazines that contain articles about science.
If you take an interest in science, watch some science on the TV, read about it when it is in the news, you should, in my opinion, be able to get most of them correct.
Page three concludes with additional statistics within the PEW/AAAS survey.
