The Development of Civic Scientific Literacy in the United States

Abstract

Americans and other citizens of modern industrial societies live in an age of science and technology. Most adults in the industrialized world live in homes heated and cooled by a combination of thermostats and microcomputer chips. They watch pictures of world events transmitted by satellite unfold on their color television screen, and eat foods prepared and preserved by a wide array of technologies unknown to their parent’s generation. When they become ill, they are treated with new pharmaceutical products that reflect 20th century advances in antibiotics, virology, or genetic engineering. For work, play, or family reasons, millions of Americans routinely take commercial air transportation to destinations around the planet.