The scientist delusion

摘要

Cosmologist Rocky Kolb began a public lecture last month with a slide amusingly titled "The View of Cosmology 1,000 Years Ago (and In Present-Day Kansas)". The joke, a reference to recent battles over teaching evolution in the state of Kansas, was telling. Many scientists today feel that they are confronted with an ever more religious and irrational public in the United States that reflexively rejects the views of scientists. But scientists tend to underestimate both the public receptivity to science and the battles that religious concerns may prompt in the years ahead.