What the Public Should Know about Science

The public is uninformed about the role of science in their everyday lives. If the masses are not aware of the positive contributions that have been made through scientific discoveries, they will not be very supportive when funding requests are made. Many of the scientific discoveries completed by scientists today may seem like a waste of time and money since the fruits of their findings may not be realized until years later. In order for the public to accept science as a positive contributor, they must be taught to understand the advancements made by science and the processes necessary to achieve them. The public most also be given an understandable explanation of how these advancements improve their lives.

Not all scientific discoveries made by the scientific community were the expected outcome of carefully planned research activities. This position can be validated through an Internet article written by Larry Gedney titled "Unexpected Scientific Discoveries are Often the Most Important." Mr. Gedney feels that it is important to provide the researcher with more leeway on how funding is to be spent. A quote from his article states, " to ask a scientist what his or her next discovery will be is to misinterpret the scientific method." (1) Accidental scientific discoveries have been made throughout the history of mankind. Some clear examples are that of the X-Ray, Penicillin, and the principle of vaccination.

In 1895, Wilhelm Roentgen discovered that he could see through his skin to the bones when putting his hand between a barium coated screen and an electrical discharge tube. As most of us know, this discovery has universalized the way that doctors perform their daily routines. Doctors no longer have to depend on their innate ability to feel a patient's arm to determine if it is broken or fractured. They can simply perform an X-Ray of the arm and within minutes have results back that clearly indicate if the bones in the arm are broken or fractured and the severity of the brake.

Another example of an unexpected scientific discovery was made by Alexander Fleming, a bacteriologist from Saint Mary's Hospital located in London. In his cluttered laboratory he noticed that a culture dish that had bacteria on it had been inundated with mold, which blew in from an open window. After observing the dish under the microscope, he saw that the bacteria, which were surrounded by the mold, had died. After carefully preserving the mold and studying it he later produced what is now called penicillin. Penicillin is an antibiotic commonly used by practitioners to aide the human immune system in its fight to rid the body of infections caused by bacteria.

Louis Pasteur discovered that vaccines could be made to prevent or lesson the effects of disease. After injecting farm chickens with a bacteria that was meant to bring about their destruction, he found that the chickens got sick but then recovered. In a second experiment he injected the same chickens with the bacteria and discovered that they didn't get sick at all. As every parent knows, today's youth must be inoculated with various vaccines before they are allowed to attend public schools. Yes these vaccines have side effects and sometimes in a very limited amount of cases cause death, but the benefits to society as a whole far outreach that of not inoculating our youth. This can be seen by looking at the third world countries that do not have developed medicines and the widespread cases of diseases such as Measles.

Unexpected discoveries are sometimes the most valuable and the public needs to loosen the reins on the funding of scientific research. To obtain grants for scientific research in our society means that scientists have to write out their proposals in detail, which allows little or no room for discoveries like the ones made by Roentgen, Pasteur, and Fleming. Michael Bishop, the author of "Enemies of Promise" can be quoted as saying "Nor is it possible, especially in the early stages of research, to anticipate what benefits are likely to result." (239)

For the public to accept and grant their approval of the scientific process, they must first be taught to understand the process and its findings. The Cancer Information Service (CIS) is one of the leading agencies in the area of keeping the public informed. Per their webpage http://cis.nci.nih.gov/research/roleim.html, CIS's mission statement "is to provide the latest, most accurate information on cancer to all those in need." (1) In order to perform this mission CIS has a toll free telephone line for cancer patients, medical professionals, and the general public.

One of the first steps required to inform and teach the public is that of explaining research that has been done or is being done. New discoveries are only valuable if they are understandable by the general public. CIS provides information of this sort on an individualized basis to the public, cancer patients, and medical professionals. The public is often misled by the news media, which often uses colorful and attention gathering titles to attract readers. Personally I have seen articles in our local newspaper that have stated in their titles, in bold print, that a cure for cancer has been found. After carefully reading the article and deciphering its content, one can easily see that a cure has not been found. An agency like CIS is an invaluable service since it provides the unbiased facts regarding new findings and what they mean in the fight to find a cure for cancer.

Part of creating an informed public is the need for them to understand the process by which scientific discoveries are made. For example, in cancer research when a new finding is made the results must be tested on both laboratory animals and on humans prior to general distribution to the public. This process is commonly titled clinical trials. Clinical trials are the method by which the researcher tests his new finding on a controlled group of animals or humans to determine the exact results. The benefits of these trials are that people are getting cutting edge medical technology, which may have a profound effect on the eradication of cancer in their bodies. On the other hand, clinical trials have a potential side effect. The side effect is that there is no absolute way of knowing the potential harmful effects of a medication when administered to humans until it is tested on humans. The clinical trial stage is where the side effects of a new medication are determined as well as the potential positive effects.

In conclusion, when the public is adequately informed on the scientific discovery process and its findings they will support science. Keeping the public informed is not only the job of the scientific community, but it is also the job of the public. The public must insist that our schools teach the adults of tomorrow the skills necessary to understand science and math. The United States recently ranked ninth out of the top twelve industrialized nations in math and science according to testing records. Without an informed public, the masses may well cause the overall destruction of science as we know it today.

Works Cited

Bishop, Michael J. "Enemies of Promise" Presence of Others Third Edition. Andrea A. Lunsford and John J. Ruszkiewicz. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2000. 237-243.

Cancer Information Service. "Cancer Information Service's Role in Research" Online. (1999) http://cis.nci.nih.gov/research/rolein.html (Last visited May 1, 2001)

Gedney, Larry. Alaska Science Forum. "Unexpected Scientific Discoveries are Often the Most Important Article #741" Online. (1985) http://www.gi.alaska.edu/ScienceForum/ASF7/741.html (Last visited May 1, 2001)