A fashionable linearity of today runs as follows: Promoting the public understanding of science leads to greata public appreciation of science, which in turn heightens public and political support for science, Whether explicitly stated or not, this theory underpins many of the initiatives to increase scientific literacy that have sprung up around the world in recent years, But is this theory valid? Do nonscientists really love genetic manipulation more when they are helped to understand it better? Orcan greater comprehension have precisely the opposite effect, strengthening existing apprehensions and awakening new ones? And what relationship, if any, exists between a person's overall attitude to science and technology and his or her response to particular issues and developments?
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