Most Comprehensive Poll to Date Finds Americans Actually Love Scientists, Science
Unfortunately, they still don't believe in evolution or climate change Looking at the recent, highly politicized fights over global warming, stem cell research and evolution, a foreign observer might think that the American public sees scientists as a class of people above sweat shop owners, but below pornographers. Similarly, the outrage on many science blogs over the public response to those issue could lead readers to think that scientists view the American public as angry villagers ready to burn chemists at the stake for witchcraft. Today, the most comprehensive poll to date exploring the American people's relationship with science, conducted by the non-partisan Pew Research group, has shown that many of those perceptions are just plain wrong. The poll contacted 2,001 non-scientists and 2,533 scientists. It found that scientists are optimistic about the health of their profession and the place of American science in the world. Similarly, average Americans love scientists,...