Author: Morris Shamos
Subject: Science/History of Science
Cloth ISBN 0-8135-2196-3
Pages: 261 pp. With a foreword by Mary Budd Rowe
"An Outstanding Academic Book of 1995," Choice Magazine
Winner, 1996 Frederic W. Ness Book Award of the Association of American Colleges and Universities
"A formidable case against decades of muddled thinking about scientific literacy. No one concerned about the science education agenda can be indifferent to [Shamos's] arguments."--Nature
"Morris Shamos distills all his experience as a scientist and educator into a brew that, for many, will taste bitter because it erodes away the underpinnings of the science literacy movement. I find his thinking stimulating, challenging, and productive. Let me warn you, however: Shamos is blunt. He did not set out to make us feel comfortable; quite the contrary. He did not set out to be popular. He cares too much about what happens in education in the sciences to let any of us settle for comfortable fads. Instead he offers us a compelling invitation to inquiry. He deserves our attention."--from the Foreword by Mary Budd Rowe, Professor of Science Education, Stanford University, and past president of the National Science Teachers Association
"Morris Shamos is one of our most respected scientists/science educators. . . . [His] challenge forces us--and rightly so--to define what scientific literacy is and how we can shape our actions to accomplish such conditions. . . . The Myth of Scientific Literacy should be used to sharpen the thinking of all science teachers, teacher educators, and researchers."--Robert E. Yager, Professor of Science Education, University of Iowa
"In this provocative volume, Shamos brings his great experience to bear on how to improve American science education. Armed with powerful insight and compelling evidence, Shamos illuminates the weaknesses in contemporary science teaching and conceives fresh goals for deep reform. Admirably rooted in a sophisticated understanding of current debates, this is a bold and crystal-clear critique--a must read for all who care about improviing our children's education for work and life in the 21st century."--Rodney Nichols, CEO, New York Academy of Sciences
Why do we make every schoolchild and college student take science? Does every American really need to be scientifically literate? In this provocative book, Morris Shamos, a physicist and science educator of very broad experience, argues that universal scientific literacy is a futile goal, and urges a critical review of the purpose of general education in science. Shamos argues that a meaningful scientific literacy cannot be achieved in the first place, and the attempt is a misuse of human resources on a grand scale. He is skeptical about forecasts of Òcritical shortfalls in scientific manpowerÓ and about the motives behind crash programs to get more young people into the science pipeline. Finally, he is convinced that, as presently taught, the vast majority of students come out of science classes with neither an intellectual grasp nor a pragmatic appreciation of science.
Shamos advocates instead a practical science education curriculum that grants the impossibility of every American learning enough science to make independent judgments about major scientific issues. Rather than giving children the heavy diet of scientific terms and facts they now get, he would emphasize: an appreciation of science as an ongoing cultural enterprise; an awareness of technologyÕs impact on one's personal health, safety, and surroundings; and the need to use experts wisely in resolving science/society issues.
Whether you loved or hated your science classes, you will find Morris ShamosÕs arguments about the future of science education required reading. Teachers, parents, scientists, science educators, school administrators, legislators, and science and human resources policy analysts will be especially interested in this book.
Morris H. Shamos, professor emeritus of physics at New York University, has served as president of the New York Academy of Sciences and of the National Science Teachers Association. He now resides in New York. Mary Budd Rowe is professor of education at Stanford University and is also a past president of the National Science Teachers Association.
