The US has the finest scientists in the world but the rest of the population is abysmally ignorant of science. Why? Because science education in the US today exists as a kind of mining and sorting operation in which existing scientists search for diamonds in the rough who can be cut and polished into elite scientists, according to David Goodstein, a professor of physics at Caltech. In elementary school, few children ever come into contact with a scientifically trained person; in high school, many teachers say their greatest satisfaction is not in preparing all students to thrive in an increasingly technical world, but in finding those diamonds in the rough; in college, students may satisfy science requirements with a single fun course that does little to prepare them for the 21st Century. The solution, according to Goodstein: make teaching attractive to people with science degrees by paying them more and treating them with professional respect. To read "Science Education Paradox," a two-page column that appeared in the September 1 issue of Technology Review, surf to http://www.biotechknowledge.com/showlib.php3?uid=5620&country=uk
