Science and Society in the Classroom: Using Sociocultural Perspec ...

Chapter 1

Introduction

––Neal Lane, National Science Foundation, 1994

A pervasive contradiction of the modern age is that even though science and technology make some parts of daily living easier, they make other aspects more complex. Increasingly, individuals need at least a basic understanding of science both to stay competitive in the workplace and to understand enough about policy issues to participate in a democratic society (Gallagher, 1994). Boulding (1964) called this fusion a “cultural mutation” whereas Toffler (1980) referred to the process as a transition from an industrial age to an information age. In this information age, data are commodities, the ability to use data well is the source of progress, and technology is the tool to gather and relay new data (Gallagher, 1994).