THE GULF BETWEEN PROFESSOR

ByBoffin and Joe Public

Susan Young meets a scientist dedicated to overcoming people's awe--and fear–-of science.

THE trouble with scientific education in this country, says Professor John Durant, is that it is geared to producing future researchers and academic high-flyers. What it does not do is produce school-leavers who are scientifically literate, possessing the basic tools of understanding. 'Most people in this country can read and write, and the reason is because universal education instills the principles into most children. If we are going to have a scientifically literate population — people who can find their way around the world of science in a reasonably competent way — then first and foremost it's the responsibility of schools to 'instill the basics,' he says. "The notion of literacy is very relevant. Reading and writing is an enormous asset, but we don't describe someone as literate if they are just deeply familiar with a particular book like Tom Sawyer.' It is something which concerns Durant: indeed, it is his life's work. As Assistant Director of the Science Museum and Imperial College's Professor in the Public Understanding of Science, his job for the past three years has been to work out exactly why there is such an enormous gulf between what tabloids still refer to as boffins' and their readers.

The paradox is that in an increasingly technological age we need to be more aware of science - but instead, many people are baffled by it. Few owners of such common place kitchen gadgets as microwaves can explain how they work, and ignorance breeds fear - such as that described by one woman interviewed by Durant who wondered if she shouldn't cook the family meals wearing a lead apron.

One of Durant's surveys, which compared basic scientific knowledge on both sides of the Atlantic, found just 31 per cent of Britons and 43 per cent of Americans knew electrons are smaller than atoms. Almost a third of Britons and almost a quarter of Americans believe antibiotics kill viruses as well as bacteria - despite a far higher interest in matters medical rather than other branches of science among both groups. Although statistically the average scores of both groups turned out to be similar - 9.26 correct answers out of 15 for the British and 10.02 for the Americans - detailed results were more worrying. The survey, published in 1989, discovered that 34 Britons gave two or fewer correct answers, against only three Americans - and this on a quiz that included what the authors described as 'morale-boosting' questions such as 'the centre of the earth is very hot'.-At the other end of the scale, 91 Americans but only 11 Britons got top marks.

But Durant does not think rote-leaning of yet more scientific 'facts' in schools is the answer. 'The world is a fast-changing place and even people who have stayed at school until 18 will find their knowledge is out of date by the time they are 28. Ten years is a long time in science. The media, museums and so on all play a part in keeping people up to date, but they need the basic grounding. 'School should be a foundation. I think the problem we have still got with the education system in general in this country is that it is geared to the principle of training an elite who are going to become highly skilled or perhaps even professional scientists. 'Compare it with the teaching of music, for instance, and you would be giving all schoolchildren the training of concert violinists. An education designed for maximum benefit would be for the understanding of music - musical appreciation, if you like.' What Durant would like to see children given is a greater understanding of what science is really like, how it works and how it affects everyday life - 'whether eggs contain salmonella or are safe to eat, what happened at Chernobyl and so on'.

Text 3

Below is an excerpt from the article "The keys to a civil society—diversity, tolerance, respect, consensus" by Damon Anderson. While reading, check your knowledge of the underlined words and expressions consulting a dictionary
if necessary. Write a summary of the text following all steps in the summarizing process. Then compare your summary with the text of your classroom partner and ask him/her to evaluate it according to the requirements for summaries listed
above.

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